


A new beginning

by Aqua666



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-04-18 01:43:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14202291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aqua666/pseuds/Aqua666
Summary: After the war is over, Harry goes on living his life. This is the story of the first few years of that life.The Harry/Severus relationship may or may not be romantic. I haven't decided yet. Their relationship, whatever kind it will turn out to be, will be a mayor part of this story.





	1. Potter Park

**Author's Note:**

> A note about this story, I didn’t really like changing anything from canon when I first wrote it. I have since become somewhat addicted to Slytherin Slash, which is why it is tentatively classified as Snarry. There won’t be any romance in the first 100k, which is about as far as it’s currently written. So, for now the romance is on a very low pit. I haven't decided if it will become a major thing in this story but if there is any, it will be between Sev and Harry,
> 
> I’ll update chapters as I re-write them. Now, on to the story!

**Chapter 1: Potter Park**

 

It was exactly two weeks after the battle of Hogwarts when Harry finally moved into his new home. For the past two weeks, Harry had lived at the Burrow. Helping the Weasleys while they spend most of their time at St. Mungo's.

 

Last week, Harry had gotten an owl from the goblins at Gringotts informing him that his inheritance had been released on his 17th birthday. When Harry had gone to visit the wizarding bank, they had taken him to a private room. For a moment, he had been afraid that they were going to arrest him for breaking into the bitch's vault. They didn't though. Instead the three goblins that joined him had informed him that, upon turning 17, Harry had become the sole holder of both the Potter and Black estate, which included several properties and a rather large sum of galleons and other valuables.

 

However, the only way that Harry was going to get any of it –and that included the trust vault Harry had access to before– was if he agreed that the goblins had actually allowed him to break in and out of the bank. Harry had barely been able to keep from grinning at that. In a way, it made sense for the goblins to pretend they had been in on it. Trying to arrest Harry, Ron and Hermione for the break in would not be easy so soon after the end of the war. Much better to pretend it was all pre-arranged. So, Harry had accepted and left, trying to hide his grin. He hadn't hung around Diagon Alley, to many people that stopped to gawk at him. Instead, he had gone out the front of the leaky cauldron and hailed the knight bus. When he asked if they knew how to get to Potter Park, the home his father had lived in as a child, the driver had grinned and nodded happily.

 

When Harry arrived at the house he had been so stunned he stood outside, slack faced, for almost ten minutes. It was the kind of house he'd only ever seen on the telly. Standing in front of a beautiful, wrought iron gate –which was the only way through this side of the six foot high wall that surrounded the property– he could see the house a little way of in the distance. The gate had opened slowly after Harry pressed his hand against it. When he was walking up the drive, he could only just see the wall in the distance on both sides. It made him want to get his broom and go for a spin around the grounds. Curious about the inside of the mansion, he had continued towards the entrance. Harry stood on the stairway that led to the front door, and looked up at the four story mansion that towered over him. The red bricks shimmered in the sun and he could see the slanted roofs of two turrets rising up from the back. Somewhere in the vicinity there was water bubbling softly, which made him a bit giddy at the possibility of owning such a grand house that it actually included a fountain.

 

Like the gate, the door had opened on its own when he put his hand the handle. The entrance hall was amazing. The floor was made from polished, black marble and the walls were snow white. Two large staircases curved around the room. The one on the left let to the first floor, the one on the right curved all the way up towards the second floor. Looking up, he saw two more staircases, spiralling from the second to the third, and from the third to the fourth floor. Standing in the middle of the spiralling staircase, he could see all the way up towards a shimmering chandelier that appeared to be hovering between the third and fourth floors.

 

At first, Harry hadn't been sure if he wanted to live in the mansion. To him, it appeared awfully large for a single person. Truth be told, he still wasn't sure if he wanted to live there. But, with Fred well on the way to recovering and all the Weasley's congregating in The Burrow to get him back on his feet, The Burrow was getting overcrowded. Besides, with his own fireplace hooked into the flu-network, he could go and visit the Weasley's whenever he wanted. Plus, the large mansion was definitely less depressing than Grimmauld Place. Ron and Bill had helped him move the few possessions he had, and now Harry was alone in the enormous house. He'd already checked out all the rooms, most of which looked uninhabited but were kept in pristine condition. There wasn't a dust mote to be found in the place.

 

During his exploration of the mansion, he had found several interesting things. On the ground floor, he found a passage behind a bookcase in the study that led to an enormous library, one Hermione would definitely enjoy. There were three different sitting rooms, all with their own hearth, and a bar that actually had a pool table. The ground floor of the right tower was a large two story high ballroom, which had paintings that refused to wake up lined round the wall. While the whole of the ground floor was amazing, none if it held up to the lower floors of the left tower. Which had been turned into a magnificent, three story high greenhouse that had curved walls completely made out of glass.

 

On the first floor, he'd found his father's old bedroom, which held a treasure trove of pictures and other things Harry had decided to go through another time. He'd also discovered the room next to it, which Harry was certain had belonged to Sirius even though the only things there were some clothes, magazines and other random objects. Harry had chosen the biggest bedroom for himself. He thought it may have been his grandparents room years ago, but there was no trace of anyone ever inhabiting the room. The walls were light blue, as was the rug, it had an enormous four-poster bed and it had an awesome bathroom attached to it. There were several bathrooms throughout the house, but all the others were smaller. Well, except for the one between his father's and Sirius's room, but he really didn't want to stay there.

 

On the third and fourth floors, there were more bedrooms, sitting rooms, and even a training room that held several out of date dummies. After roaming for a while, he'd come to realize there had to be someone, a house elf perhaps, that had taken care of the mansion all these years. There was just no other way for it to be this clean, but he hadn't seen or heard anyone yet. He was looking for some sign of a caretaker when he found the nursery, a beautiful room with pictures of himself and his parents and grandparents. Harry had always believed his grandparents had been dead before he was born, but from the pictures he gathered that they must have been alive for at least two months after his birth. It was just his rotten luck to lose his grandparents and parents within the first two years of his life. He shook the thought of and continued looking around, deciding to come back to the nursery soon. He would make it Teddy's room, it was close enough to his own and was across from one of the many guest rooms, which would give Andromeda a place to stay as well.

 

Harry had gone to see Teddy a few days ago, and strangely enough it hadn't been as hard as he had suspected. When he had arrived, Andromeda had been rather unhappy with him. But then, she had been afraid he was going to take Teddy away from her. Harry had been surprised at her initial welcome, he hadn't even thought about taking Teddy. The baby was safe and happy with his grandmother. She had raised an amazing daughter and Harry was certain that she would do the same with little Teddy. After Harry had made it clear that he was not and would not, take little Teddy away from her, they had talked. In the end, Andromeda was more than happy to let Harry look after Teddy for a few hours so she could take the nap she needed, and most definitely deserved.

 

Harry had spend the hours downstairs, looking after the tiny baby. Teddy had been asleep for the first few hours, but when he woke up, he did so with a vengeance. First, he'd wailed for food, then he'd wailed for his plushy, which was a rather smug looking wolf. After Harry had changed him, he'd finally gone quiet. Harry had talked to him about everything and nothing, and found it was rather nice to talk to someone who didn't care about what he said. He'd made dinner while Teddy was down for another nap, and the three of them had a nice dinner before Harry left. Andromeda had told him he could visit them at any time, and Harry had made sure she knew that there would be place for both of them at his home any time they wanted it. Harry hoped they would make use of the rooms. He was sure that Teddy would come stay with him at some point, he just wasn't sure Andromeda would feel right coming with him. He sighed, he would just have to make sure of it.

 

Harry continued on his trek through the house, found another sitting room and dropped down in a chair. Two weeks had gone by and he had yet to have a day of peace. The day after the battle, Harry had gone to Dumbledore's tomb to repair the man's resting place and say goodbye. Afterwards, he had spent the rest of the day surrounded by people. It seemed like every single person in the magical community had turned up and wanted to talk to him. He'd been invited to funerals, celebrations, job interviews and an assortment of other appointments.

 

The next day, there had been a memorial service near the lake. They'd asked him to speak and, while he really didn't want to, he had agreed. He hadn't given a long speech, he hadn't even said that much to anyone there. He'd simply taken the opportunity to thank everyone for what they had done to protect their world. Everyone who had fallen had done so in order to protect their love ones, to allow others to have a happy future. Harry owed them his gratitude, even if he couldn't do anything else for them. Later, after he found out about the estates that were now his, he would set up a fund to help everyone who needed help because of the war.

 

He also decided to do something for all the orphans that lost their parents to Voldemort. He hadn't really had time to arrange anything but he was thinking of creating an orphanage for magical children –he didn't want any of them lost in the muggle world as he had been– and setting up a fund that would take care of all the muggle children and magical children who already had another good home. Harry had decided to speak to Molly about it as soon as Fred was out of the hospital, after raising Ron and his siblings, he was certain she could help. He was hoping she would volunteer to take on the task, but after seven children, he wouldn't blame her if she told him to find someone else.

 

After the memorial, he had helped clean up part of Hogwarts for the rest of the day. The following days were filled with funerals. There were so many that Harry was unable to go to every single one due to overlapping. For four days, Harry went to funeral after funeral. By the last one, which was held for Remus and Tonks, Harry was emotionally and physically exhausted and forced, by several Weasleys, to stay in bed until the next morning. The day after the funerals, Harry had gone to Gringotts and started his move into the Potter Park. He could have chosen one of the other properties he apparently owned, but even though the house was much too large for one person, it was his strongest link to his family. And after a year of camping, Harry really, really needed the space. Not to mention that living at Potter Park had the added advantage of being able to house the whole Weasley family, as well as a number of other guests, at ones. Hopefully someday, Harry would have his own family to fill some of the emptiness of the house.

 

That made him think of Ginny. After it was all over, she’d found him trying to hide from all the craziness. She’d followed and pulled him into a kiss as soon as they’d been out of sight. It was a nice kiss. All soft, sweet lips that gave him the comfort he’d been looking for ever since he understood such things existed. But that was all it had been, a small comfort after months of hardship. As soon as she’d backed up, he’d given her a tired smile and left for the dorms. Since then, he had only seen Ginny when they were surrounded by others and he hadn’t tried to speak to her in private. He knew that they needed to talk, and they needed to do it without others around, but he had no idea what that talk would entail. Whether they would still be a they and the end of that talk, nor did he know whether he wanted them to be…

Letting out a deep breath he stretched out on the couch and closed his eyes. In the morning he had to go to the ministry, he needed some sleep.


	2. Meeting the Minister

**Chapter 2: Meeting the Minister**

 

Harry used the disillusionment charm Hermione had shown him and took a deep breath before he stepped into the hearth. He threw down a handful of flu powder and said, rather reluctantly “Ministry of Magic”. The trip through the flu was as disorientating and annoying as ever. He stumbled out of the fireplace and brushed himself of. The hall was filled with people walking every which way and, for a moment, Harry held his breath. Lately, he hadn't been able to go anywhere in the wizarding world without people staring at him. It had been bad before, but now they practically mobbed him every time he went out. After a second, he remembered the charm and started walking towards the lift. He should really go to the reception counter and announce himself, but he was in no mood. Kingsley practically black mailed him to come, so the man better not whine about formalities. Harry pressed the button and the lift zoomed him away.

 

Stepping into the minister's office, he removed the disillusionment charm and walked toward the desk. As soon as the woman behind it saw him, her jaw dropped and she just stared. Harry sighed and walked forward “Harry Potter to see Minister Shacklebolt.” He tried to keep the annoyance at her staring out of his voice, making him sound bored. The woman nodded and almost ran towards the door behind her. He heard a mumbled conversation and a second later the woman waved him in. Closing the door behind him, Harry sat down on the chair and stared at the Minister.

 

Kingsley didn't waste time “Mr. Potter, we have things to discuss.”

 

Harry rolled his eyes, people had been doing that a lot lately, stating the obvious. “Such as?”

 

“Whatever you refused to tell us at Hogwarts.” Kingsley lifted an eyebrow, as if to say that Harry should be well aware of what he wanted.

 

“Could you be more specific, there was a lot I didn't tell you.” Harry answered in that same bored voice he was learning to perfect. It was best to seem completely neutral these days. A single grimace, frown or other emotional sign could be caught by the press, leaving harry to, once again, find his name in the paper along some ridiculous story.

 

“I want to know everything.”

 

Harry shook his head slowly, there was no way he would ever tell everything to anyone, not even the Minister of Magic. “There are things no-one needs to know. There are things I shouldn't even know.”

 

Kingsley nodded “Does this include Dumbledore's mission?”

 

Harry shrugged and shook his head again. “I can tell you, but you need to promise not to speak of it, to anyone.”

 

“Do you need a vow?” Kingsley looked dead serious, clearly prepared to make an unbreakable vow before he even knew what he needed to keep secret.

 

“I voted for you.”

 

“I read the article. Your backing made a difference, I won't forget that.”

 

Harry nodded slightly. He had given his statement on who should be the next minister to the daily prophet because he had hoped it would be good for the Ministry. He hadn't done it for any favours he might get from Kingsley, but after the year he'd had, he wasn't stupid enough to disregard such a favour. “I trust you are smart enough to keep this to yourself.” He waited for the Minister to agree before saying one word “Horcruxes.”

 

Kingsley looked at him for a while, then nodded slowly “You mentioned them during the duel. You said they were destroyed.”

 

“Yes, they were. We were looking for the last few this year. The last one was at Hogwarts, it's why we went there.”

 

“The snake? The boy seemed to think it had to be destroyed.”

 

Harry shook his head “Well, yes and no. The snake was technically the last.” He paused and looked around the room. Taking out his wand, he cast a quick Muffliato before he continued “I was also one..”

 

Kingsley opened his mouth and closed it again. He seemed to be at a loss for words. Harry understood that, he hadn't known what to do with that revelation either. So he smiled at the Minister “Yeah, that's about the same as my reaction. Anyway, it's why I went into the forest. I had no choice.”

 

Kingsley blinked a few times “You had a choice. You could have fled.”

 

“And let Riddle kill everyone I care about?”

 

“You are a better man than most, Harry. You may not care about my opinion, but I hope you will become an Auror. I would be proud to have you as part of the Ministry.”

 

Harry smiled slightly. He wasn't sure whether he still wanted to do that, so much had chanced now that Riddle was gone, but it didn't hurt having the ministers support. Even if it was thoroughly misplaced “I really didn't do much. There were a lot of people involved who deserve a lot more credit than me.”

 

Kingsley shook his head as if he didn't believe what he was hearing “Don't think I don't understand your meaning. You are right in saying that it wasn't all you. It wasn't, I'm well aware of that. But none of us had to bear what you did. You were our hope, I don't believe you had someone to put your hope in this past year.”

 

Harry shrugged “I had a mission, I had Dumbledore.”

 

“I take it you did not keep up with the latest gossip?”

 

“I read the book...” Harry sighed and looked at Kingsley before adding “It was hateful, but it was necessary.”

 

Kingsley frowned “How so?”

 

“It's a long story, one that is not important. Let's just say that it held information that I needed.”

 

Kingsley nodded, letting the matter go. “So, the Horcruxes were all destroyed. What about that wand?”

 

Harry frowned for a moment before he remembered that everyone had seen the end, they all saw him catch Tom's wand. “It was Dumbledore's, and before that it was Grindelwald's. It's been going around for centuries.”

 

“Why?”

 

Harry pursed his lips, thinking hard. “Because that wand is the Elder wand, Death stick, whatever you want to call it.” That was all anyone needed to know. No reason to tell them about the other Hallows, it would only create trouble.

 

“May I ask what you did with it?”

 

Harry shrugged, might as well “I stored it in a safe place. I had been thinking of putting it back with Dumbledore but considering... It thought it best if it was somewhere a little less obvious. It wouldn't do if someone decided to dig it up and come after me to become it's next master.”

 

Kingsley nodded at that “I won't ask. Now, about the official statement, I assume you read it?”

 

Harry nodded. He had been reading the prophet every day since the battle. The information in it seemed to be as unreliable as always but it didn't hurt to know what everyone else in the wizarding world was discussing over breakfast. “I thought it was quite impressive. A whole statement on the battle and the only pertinent fact in there was Snape's innocence.”

 

Kingsley smiled “Yes well, I heard what you said. He may have died but that is no reason to let everyone believe the man was something he wasn't. Though, I would like to know how you came to that conclusion.”

 

“He gave me some of his memories. I've seen a false memory before, these were real.”

 

“What was in them?”

 

Harry shook his head “I don't believe he is dead, I won't until we find his body. I told Riddle about Snape's love for my mother because I believed him dead, and I needed Tom of kilter. Even if Snape is truly gone, I don't think he would appreciate it if I revealed more of his private life for no good reason at all.”

 

Kingsley frowned at Harry “If Snape is alive, I would assume he would want to be proven innocent above all else.”

 

Harry shrugged “Maybe, but that's his choice. Personally, I think he wouldn't care about the presumptions of strangers if it means losing his privacy. It's not as if he'll end up in Azkaban either way.”

 

“If he is found alive, he will get a trial but there is no guarantee he'll get off.”

 

“Yes, there is. I will be there. Like I will be at Draco Malfoy's trial later today.” Harry folded his arms and stared at Kingsley. He had known from the start that he would have to meddle with some of the trials to ensure certain people were given a chance. There was simply no way Harry was going to allow a repeat of the farce that got Sirius locked away.

 

The minister lifted an eyebrow “And you believe you can influence The Wizengamot?”

 

Harry shrugged “I'll do my best. Draco Malfoy may have been an idiot by accepting the mark, but he never killed or even tortured someone. In the end, he did his best to do the right thing. As for Snape, he has redeemed himself ten times over. I will be there to testify.”

 

Kingsley nodded and shuffled the papers on his desk around. “I understand, and you're quite right. However, besides testifying there is another option.”

 

“Which is?”

 

“You are the last Potter, that means you have a right to a seat on The Wizengamot.”

 

“I was unaware that The Wizengamot was run by bloodlines.”

 

“It isn't. But when there are empty seats, the old families without one are given a chance to run.”

 

“So, you want me to run for a seat on The Wizengamot? A 17-year-old who hasn't finished school yet.” Harry folded his arms and frowned. That was the most ridiculous idea he'd heard in a while.

 

“At the moment there are several empty seats. We are in a time of change and we need young blood. If you ask for a seat, you will get one, no questions asked. You could help make this a better world.”

 

“The Wizengamot will have to preside over the death eater trials. I cannot be involved with that, not with my history.” Not to mention that less than 3 years ago, he had been on trial in front of The Wizengamot. He really didn't want to be the one judging others as they had judged him.

 

“You are planning to testify for Malfoy.”

 

“Yes, I am testifying. I am testifying about what I've seen and experienced, not sitting in judgement on people that have tried to kill me.”

 

Kingsley sat forwards and gave him a scrutinizing look “You know, most people would be foaming at the mouth with the influence you have. Why do you refuse to use it?”

 

“Because it's not what I want.”

 

“Then what do you want?”

 

He didn't even need to think about that, it's what he had wanted for as long as he could remember. “Finish my education, get a job, have a family and live a normal life.”

 

“You will never have a normal life.”

 

“Maybe not, but I can try.”

 

“You would ignore what our community needs to have what you want?”

 

Harry gnashed his teeth, reigning in his temper. “That's low Minister, but no I wouldn't. That's why I want to become an Auror. I'll help by keeping criminals of the streets.” That wasn't completely true since he wasn’t sure about being an Auror anymore but that wasn't important now.

 

“That's doesn't stop you from taking a seat on The Wizengamot.”

 

“Doesn't it? I will be bringing in criminals, I can't sit at their trials as well.”

 

“No, but you can have a seat and not judge in any of the trials.”

 

“You just want me on there so you can say you employ Harry bloody Potter. Why would I want a seat if I'm never going to use it.” He was getting frustrated. Harry had expected more from Kingsley. He hadn't thought him to be the kind that would use a 17-year-old as a mascot.

 

“I want you on there because The Wizengamot can use someone like you. Especially if it's going to be part of the ruling government.”

 

That got Harry's attention. The Wizengamot was supposed be a court of sorts. It wasn't supposed to be part of the ruling body. Hell, Harry didn't think there actually was a ruling body. To him it always seemed like the minister held all the power. “Part of the ruling government?”

 

Kingsley smiled, as if he knew Harry was becoming interested in whatever his plan was. “The Wizengamot will be changing, I told you. We are trying to get it so that the new laws or chances to laws will have to be approved by a majority. I agree with you Mr. Potter, the ministry is corrupt. The first thing that needs to chance is the autonomy the minister has.”

 

Harry was amused, apparently he had been right about Kingsley after all. He would be good for the ministry. He would have to learn not to judge so quickly. It wasn't something he normally did but it seemed that minister officials still put him on edge. “You are trying to give away the power your function holds?”

 

“Partly, yes.”

 

“Huh, okay. Interesting...” Harry sat back and thought about that for a moment. “Maybe you are right, maybe I should get a seat on The Wizengamot. But that still doesn't get me anywhere when it comes to Snape and Malfoy. I want to help them, I believe it's the right thing to do. But I can't do it from a seat in The Wizengamot, that would dissolve the point of doing the right thing.”

 

“You have a strange set of morals Mr. Potter.”

 

“No, I don't. A jury is supposed to be neutral, they are supposed to judge on the evidence given. I'm the one with the evidence, I can't be neutral.”

 

Kingsley waved his hand “Fine, fine. Testify if you feel that is best, but don't come to me if the end result isn't the one you wanted.”

 

Harry sat up straight and stared at the man. He didn't like the way he'd said that. “Do you have a reason to believe it won't be?”

 

“Mr. Malfoy was a minor until recently, if you can prove that he has indeed changed his viewpoint, he may get a second chance. As for Severus Snape, he killed Dumbledore. There were students practising Crusiatus on lower class students while he was Headmaster. How are you going to condone that?”

 

Harry blinked, he had a point. Though, anyone who understood anything about the war would have to understand why Snape did what he did, wouldn't they? “I'm not. But fact is that Snape was given very little choice. He did what Professor Dumbledore asked him to do. That was the deal, Professor Dumbledore protected him so long as Snape agreed to spy for him. He did his job. He put his life on the line every single day. Hell, he might have died to ensure I could do what had to be done. Also, it has to be noted that, while Snape was unable to protect the students from the Carrows, he never tried to stop Neville and Ginny from helping. When they broke into his office, he send them to the forbidden forest with Hagrid as punishment, the same punishment which was given to me while Dumbledore was headmaster.”

 

Kingsley sighed and leaned back in his chair, grabbing some document that were laying on the filing cabinet behind him. Handing them over to Harry, he smiled and asked “Have you given notice that you want to testify for Malfoy?”

 

Harry looked up from the papers and shook his head “I was planning on just walking in there.”

 

Kingsley pursed his lips as if considering something important “How did you even know that the trial is today?”

 

Giving Kingsley an approximation of one of those mysterious smiled Dumbledore had been so well versed in, Harry answered “I have my sources” Truth was, he wouldn't have know had he not overheard someone talk about it on his way to Kingsley's office. He'd decided he wanted to testify for Malfoy several days earlier but hadn't known when the trial was. The ministry was rather closed mouthed when it came to the trials. Though, The Prophet had taken to sending out a supplementary each evening that chronicled the trials that had taken place that day. For a small fee off course.

 

Harry had planned to ask Kingsley for information but since he'd already known, no matter how much luck had been involved in getting the information, there was no need to let the minister know how little he knew of what was going on. He found it rather irksome that he was unable to go out and talk to people without changing his appearance. If only the mobs stopped cropping up, he could go out and get whatever he needed without having to beg. The only good thing about his fame was that most people instantly liked him and wanted to give him anything he desired. And yet, he couldn't use it for anything, no matter how important, because it came attached to the most dangerous adoration.

 

Kingsley pulled him out of his thoughts when he let out a soft huff of irritation. Pointing at the papers he'd handed Harry he said “Those contain the information about the trial you will need. Time and place are one the first page, as is a list with the charges against him. There is also a list of the evidence we have, the names of the people who will testify and some other pertinent papers. I was about to copy and bind them but since you are here. Is there anything you like to add?”

 

Harry looked down at the paper and looked over the first page.

 

 

**_Death Eater Trial   -    #56_ **

_Date: 19 th of May 1998_

_Time: 10 AM_

_Accused: Draco Lucius Malfoy_

_Charged with:_

_Willingly allied with Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort._

_Helped several death eaters invade Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry leading to the death of late Headmaster Albus Dumbledore._

_Attacked Harry Potter and friends during The Battle of Hogwarts._

 

 

Harry looked as Kingsley, slightly confused. These were the crimes they were charging Draco with? It wasn't like they were inconsequential but all in all, it didn't seem such a big deal. They hadn't charged him for the other attempts he'd made on Dumbledore's life. Nor, it seemed, had they been able to discover any other specifics of what Malfoy had done during the past year. He was slightly curious as to why though. It seemed rather unlikely that they knew of his involvement with Albus's death, yet had not linked the cursed pendant or poisoned wine to him. Rather than asking any of that and risking more charges getting added, he asked “How do you know what happened during the battle? I don't think I ever mentioned an attack by Malfoy.”

 

“He was there with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, was he not?”

 

Harry pursed his lips and thought. “Well, yeah he was... But have you ever seen those two? Malfoy may have been their leader for years but things changed rather a lot for him this past year.”

 

Kingsley sat forward, curiosity written all over his face. “Voldemort was living in his house, off course things changed. How does this relate to that attack?”

 

Harry shrugged “By the time the battle happened, Draco was scared of his own shadow. At least, that's how he seemed to me. He tried to keep them from killing us.”

 

“You're saying you think he was there to help you?”

 

Harry shook his head, that was not it at all. “I don't think he knew what he was doing. He got so deep into shit he had nowhere else to turn. What would you do when your view on the world, as well as the world itself, was being ripped apart piece by piece and you had no way to stop it.”

 

Kingsley pursed his lips “Try to find a way, or find someone else who might be able to help.”

 

“Yeah... But you're forgetting that we are essentially still children, we're still in school. And it's not as if we've been prepared to deal with anything like this. As for finding someone who can help.. He's a Malfoy, a rather arrogant and proud one at that. Even if he tried to approach someone on our side for help, nobody would have given it.”

 

“That does not excuse him from following bastard's orders.”

 

Harry chuckled at the curse, it was nice to know that being the minister of magic did not equal being perfectly proper all the time. “He didn't follow orders. He followed his friends, which were idiots true, but still.. They were his closest friends. And he tried to stop them from killing us. Not to mention that he didn't even try to get back into Voldemort's good graces when he had the chance. Just because he wasn't on our side doesn't mean he was on his. At least, not after he understood what Voldemort's side was really like.”

 

“What could he have done to get back into their inner circle that he refused?”

 

“When they the snatchers brought us to Malfoy Manor... Hermione used a stinging hex to obscure my face so they didn't know who I was. They called Draco to verify if it was me but he told them he didn't know. It's the only reason we got out of there before Riddle turned up.”

 

“That doesn't prove anything, he might not have been able to tell it was you either.”

 

Harry scoffed and waved his hand in a dismissive manner “Malfoy and I have never gotten along, but I know him. He recognized me all right, I'm more than certain of that.”

 

“That may be so, but it isn't enough to dismiss any of the charges. Though, it might help if you're trying to prove that he has learned from his experience.”

 

“That was the idea. It's rather hard to prove him innocent when we all know he wasn't. I just think he has been punished enough. Especially since his father just got locked up for. how many years was it?”

 

Kingsley sighed “Ten years. It's seems he still holds rather a lot of influence even after everything. The fact that all three Malfoy's left while everyone still believed Riddle the victor was also taken into account.”

 

Harry just nodded. Most everyone may have believed him death and the Battle lost, but Narcissa Malfoy had known he was still alive. But Harry didn't mention it, it didn't really matter. Lucius was paying for his idiocy. There was no reason to punish Draco or his mother when it was clear to Harry that they were just trying to survive. For a moment, he wondered if he was turning into Dumbledore.. Deciding the fate of other's simply because he believed it was the right thing to do. He shrugged it of though, he was just trying to help. It's what he always did. Looking down he riffled through the other papers. The list of evidence was small. As was the list of witnesses. He noticed most were either students of teachers at Hogwarts. “Which of these witnesses are on his side?”

 

“The students as well as the teachers are there for character witnesses. The headmistress chose them, they are there for their honest opinions. As for the other two, they are witnesses to certain events.”

 

Pursing his lips he looked over the names. The first two names he recognized as a Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff from their year, though he knew neither of them very well. He assumed they had been chosen for their neutral observations of Malfoy, as it seemed unlikely that Malfoy was very familiar with either of them. Next was, to Harry's amazement, Neville Longbottom. Which made him wonder if maybe he had been wrong and the Hufflepuff girl and Ravenclaw boy had been enemies of Draco. Since Neville was about as neutral as Harry when it came to Draco. Then again, Neville had become quit the man this past year, he might have agreed to speak at the hearing for the same reason as Harry. Then there was the Slytherin Theodore Nott, which was an interesting choice to say the least. While neither of Draco's goons would be able to be there, since one was death and the other was awaiting his own trial, there was Blaise as well as several girls that had seemed to like Malfoy. Though Nott had never seemed averse to Draco, he had always been the most silent and reserved of the Slytherins in their year.

 

Then there were the professors. Slughorn, Flitwick, Sinistra and McGonagall. Harry wasn't sure what to think of that. Slughorn hadn't wanted Malfoy in his little club but that was most likely just because he wanted to stay as far away from Riddle as possible, which would be rather hard to do when cozying up to someone living at Riddle's headquarters. As for Flitwick and Sinistra, Harry had no idea how well Draco did in their classes or if he got along with him. And McGonagall, well she was fair. She would answer The Wizengamot's questions with complete honesty and hope they would do whatever was right.

 

Well, Harry wasn't going to make it that easy for them to convict the little buggard. Turning over to the next page he saw a consent form for the use of Veritaserum, signed by Draco. He smiled and looked up at the Minister. “You are going to administer Veritaserum?” When Kingsley nodded Harry sat forward and asked “May I ask him some questions?”

 

Kingsley sighed deeply and shook his head “At the moment, the questions can only be asked by me or the defence advocate.”

 

“Who's defending Draco?” Harry asked, looking at his watch and wondering if he could find whomever it was in time.

 

“I'm not certain...” Harry was already rifling through the other pages when Kingsley added “But if there are specific questions I should ask, I would be willing.”

 

Glancing up, Harry grinned at the man “All right. First, you have to confirm this first Accusation you're making. Ask about the circumstances surrounding him receiving his mark.” Kingsley nodded in acknowledgement “Next, I need you to ask him why he didn't kill Albus as soon as he had him disarmed.”

 

“Why? He isn't accused of that, we all know it was Severus Snape.”

 

Harry shrugged “Yes, as for that... I think I need to share one or two memories with you but I'm not sure it's the right thing to do..”

 

Kingsley waved that away “Finish the questions first, we can talk about the memories after.”

 

Nodding Harry continued “You need to ask if he attacked me during the battle... He may have been there, and we may have had words, but he never attacked me or my friends. You should also ask why he didn't betray me at Malfoy Manor and if he ever intents to harm anyone again.”

 

“Those first two are fine but are you sure about that last one? If he says yes he will be locked away for the rest of his life, no matter what else happens..”

 

Harry sighed and leaned back “Make it more specific then. Something like, harm someone for no good reason or something.”

 

The minister frowned and shook his head “That won't work. Someone may believe something to be a good reason even though it truly isn't. You want me to ask a question that will show he has changed, correct?”

 

Harry nodded and Kingsley held out his hand for the forms. After reading a few lines on one of the papers he looked back at Harry with a slight smile. “We are usually prohibited from asking such questions under Veritaserum. As I said, questions of intent are often too vague. However, Mr. Malfoy seems to have had no problem singing an open form. We are allowed to ask whatever we wish, though the defence is allowed to ask follow up questions when he feels the answer was unsatisfactory.”

 

“That's all right then. I'm here to get him another chance, not get him kissed.” Harry grimaced slightly, him getting Draco kissed was wrong in any sense. Also, was it truly necessary to call such a gruesome way of murder after something as pleasant as a kiss... Shaking his head to get back on track he glanced at his watch again. Malfoy's trial would be held in 3 hours. It would be best if they got on with things. Especially since Harry had no idea if the minister had something else besides the Malfoy trial he wanted to discuss. “The memories I mentioned..”

 

“Since you feel the need to show me but are reluctant, I assume these are Snape's memories?”

 

Harry nodded, biting his lip in indecision. It wasn't like he was showing any of Snape's personal memories, the ones that were needed now were purely informational. Yet, he couldn't quite bring himself to do it. “I haven't shown them to anyone since I learned that his body was never found. I just can't imagine he would appreciate it if I shared them with all and sunder.”

 

“No, I don't imagine so. The Headmistress mentioned she had seen the memories as well, it was mentioned in one of the articles. Is that information correct?”

 

“Yes, I told her to watch them when I was on my way to the forest.”

 

“Then we have two rather believable witnesses and you could simply give us the relevant information during the trial. It may not be as strong as the actual memory but it may be good enough. Depending on the information off course.”

 

Harry sighed and started explaining. “Well... It's about Dumbledore's death. I have a memory where Albus makes Snape swear that he will kill him when the time comes.”

 

Blinking a few times, Kingsley pursed his lips and sat back “What does that have to do with Malfoy?”

 

“Dumbledore told Snape that it was for the best. That Draco could still be saved, as long as he didn’t kill, he could still be saved. Combine that with what I saw...”

 

“Well I can see how Albus knowing about the plot might make a difference. But if you are going to testify on the murder of Albus during this trial, it will be included if Severus Snape is ever found.”

 

Harry shrugged, not really worried about that. Getting Snape of would be a breeze compared to Malfoy's trial. Assisted suicide was, after all, not a punishable crime in the wizarding world. At least, it wasn't as far as Harry knew. He'd have to look that up if Snape was ever found.

 

Sighing, Harry flicked his wand out of his newly acquired wrist holster, and conjured a small flask. Drawing out his memory of that night, he put it in the flask and handed it over to Kingsley. “That is my memory of what happened that night. When you watch it, remember that Draco knew that Snape made a vow to protect him but had no idea of Snape's allegiance. Albus had convinced him not to do it, he was putting away his wand and then...” Harry let the sentence drop. Even now, it was hard to talk about. Harry didn't think it would ever be easy.

 

Kingsley nodded and put the bottle to the side. “I will look at it and evaluate if it should be added to the evidence.”

 

Harry bit his lip in silent worry. None of the previous ministers had inspired trust or respect and for a brief moment, Harry worried whether it was a smart idea to ask Kingsley to help with Draco. He was after all the one charged with dealing with the aftermath of the war. Harry just couldn't decide if giving Draco Malfoy a second chance was very high on the minister's list of things to do. Harry wouldn't blame the man if it wasn't, Kingsley was no doubt knee high in political crap at the moment.

 

“That's fine, anything you can do. Was there anything else we needed to discuss?”

 

Nodding, Kingsley stood up and started to move some papers around. A minute later he let out a 'aha' and handed four folders to Harry. All four had a surname written on them, Potter, Black, Peverell and Snape. Harry looked at that last one for a long time before he looked up at the minister, still confused as hell. “What are these?”

 

Smiling, Kingsley sat back down and pointed at the folders. “Those are all the legal documents that we should have handed over to you once you turned 17. Well, except for Snape’s... That was rather surprising to be honest.”

 

Opening the first folder, Harry saw that it had several documents inside pertaining to the Potters. At the end there was a note that the deeds to properties and several other assets belonging to the Potters could be found at Gringotts. The Black folder was much the same. It had Sirius's will, the deed to Grimmauld Place, and some forms Harry didn't recognize and would have to check out later.

 

The Peverell folder was a bit different. Inside were only two pieces of parchment. The first piece looked ancient and ready to crumble, embossed with the Peverell name in what looked like real gold. It listed the last three generations of Peverells, his own name, in an elaborate script, at the bottom. The second parchment was a statement from Gringotts that there was a small vault in the Peverell name that could be claimed by Lord Peverell if he can present the correct item. Harry didn't know what to make of that. It was likely that they would need to see one of the Hallows, seeing as it was the Peverell vault.. The question was, which one. The oldest brother died a only a few days after he got the wand and Harry didn't think the second brother had any children, seeing as he had loved a death woman. Then again, the Gaunts had the stone so it was possible... Harry dismissed the notion. Since the first parchment had his and his father's names on it, it was most likely that he needed to present the cloak.

 

Nodding to himself, he turned to the last one. Snape’s. Harry glared at the name for another moment before he opened the folder. Inside was a letter.

 

_Mr. Potter,_

_As you have received this letter it is most likely that I am dead. I can only hope that I was able to complete my mission. However, if I was not able, it might be possible you'll read this in time. Sadly, as you are not known for your deductive reasoning and I am certain that this clue will go over your head, all I can tell you is this: You are the last one. You will die._

_Since I am no longer alive, you might as well know the truth. When I was younger, I knew your mother. Now, don't go believing that my hatred for your father was simple jealousy. It was not. I tell you this because I have no heirs. The only person I ever truly cared for was your mother. Therefore, I have made you the recipient of my estate. As you have enough money, I left instructions for my savings. I have also made arrangements for my book collection to go to Hogwarts, since I am certain there are students who will appreciate them more than you. I have however, left you my childhood home. It is old and dilapidated, just the place you would imagine me to live in. But it is in the same neighbourhood your mother grew up in, and there are quite a few pictures of her that you might want to take a look at._

_Good luck Mr. Potter._

_S.S._

Harry grinned slightly, Snape might have hated him but he'd still thought of leaving the pictures of his mother to him. It was a nice gesture. “Where is this house supposed to be?”

 

“On Spinners End in Cokeworth. It's where we found the letter.”

 

Harry glanced at the minister “You went through his house?”

 

Kingsley sighed softly “Snape was a priority. When he wasn't found after the battle, the Aurors went to his home to search for clues as to where he might be hiding. By the time you told your story, it was already done.”

 

Harry didn't reply. He wasn't sure what to say. He didn't agree with searching houses of innocent people. But he could understand why they had acted so quickly. The evidence against Snape was overwhelming, nobody could have guessed him innocent. Not after killing Albus. “I assume you didn't actually follow through with his will? I mean, he hasn't been declared death yet.”

 

“Oh no, we put everything in storage once you told your story. It may become evidence if he is found alive and goes to trial, but it won't be used unless he is found or declared death in absentia.”

 

“Then why give me the letter?”

 

Kingsley shrugged “Thought you might still need it. We weren't sure what that clue meant, we had actually assumed it was a death threat. Then you told us he was innocent and I figured it would be best for you to have the information. Now that you've told me the whole story, I understand what he meant. But still, you might as well have it.”

 

Harry nodded, not sure what to do with the letter. There was nothing new in it. Well, except for the house that Snape had wanted to leave him. Something which completely confounded Harry. “Would it be possible for me to check out his house? There might be a clue as to where he is. Since you guys are all busy rounding up Riddle's followers...”

 

“Technically, it would be considered trespassing. So, if the Professor were to turn up and found you on his property...”

 

Harry grimaced and nodded “Gotcha. Make sure I don't get caught.”

 

Chuckling softly the minister shook his head at his comment. “I will pretend I didn't hear that.”

 

“All right. So, not sure if I should bother you with this, seeing as you are the minister of magic and all but.. Could you explain what these documents in the Potter and Black folder are all about?”

 

“I could, but my explanation would be severely lacking. Most of those have to do with family legalities. There are certain contracts that are handed down from one Lord to the next. You'll likely have some information on Gringotts contacts, possibly a list of properties, things like that.” Kingsley paused and started riffling through one of the lower drawers. After a moment he let out a soft 'aha' and, after straightening his robe, handed Harry a small cart with and address written on it. “That's the contact information for a Miranda Smith. She used to work in our legal department and, though she was muggle-born herself, spend a great deal of her time working with those kind of family papers.”

 

Harry smiled slightly “A muggle-born handled most of the papers for The Noble Families? I would have loved to see Malfoy's face when he realized that.”

 

“Yes well, luckily it is not their choice whom we employ. As for Miranda, she fled the country two years ago but I heard she returned. I'm certain she would be more than delighted to help you out. Though, it might be best if you can get another Head of the Family to help you with the finer details of the position.”

 

“Does it really matter? I mean, I'm head of a non-existent family.”

 

“Come now Mr. Potter, don't be so negative. I'm sure that you will have children one day. What's more, you are the head of three families. Though, two of them have all but vanished, there are still several members of the Black lineage who would be happy for you to serve as Lord Black.”

 

Harry closed his eyes for a second. He didn't like that title. The last person who'd carried it was Sirius and he didn't like taking it away from him, even if Sirius was gone. “I would rather live my life without ever being referred to as a Lord, let alone Lord Black.”

 

“That's good, since you would technically be Lord Harry James Potter Black Peverell.”

 

Harry blinked a few times before he led out a long groan. That was even worse. “Why in that order?”

 

“Normally the oldest and most powerful goes last. In this case though, Peverell is clearly the oldest but it has also been considered extinct for many years.” Kingsley frowned for a moment for shook his head and continued. “I have to admit that we were all slightly surprised when we found the Peverell files inside the Potter folder.”

 

“They weren't like this before?” Harry interrupted without thinking. Luckily, the minister didn't mind the rudeness.

 

“No, they were not. When retrieving the papers that were to be given to you on your 17th birthday, I looked them over to ensure it was in order and noticed those two parchments. I did a quick search to see if there was anything else in our files on the family but came up empty. The papers for the Peverell lordship have not been filed in many, many years. I must admit, I am rather curious to see if you are able to locate them.”

 

“Do I have to file any papers for the Potter or Black family?”

 

“For the Black family, yes. I noticed a few family contracts in there. When those are involved, the lineage papers are required. I don't know about the Potter family. It's possible that you need to file them in order to gain access to your vaults.”

 

Harry sat up with a frown “I already have access.”

 

Kingsley’s eyebrows rose and he looked at Potter for a long moment “And you have spoken to your account manager?”

 

“Uuh...” Harry hedged. He hadn't really looked at any of it yet. Not that he hadn't wanted to, he'd been curious about his state of affairs on several occasions. He just hadn't found the time to go to Gringotts and take a look at the vaults. Or more precisely, he hadn't found the will to go out in public for money he didn't need yet.

 

Kingsley didn't judge him though. He just smiled like he completely understood and said “Well, you might want to go and take a look. There may be papers and other items in those vaults.”

 

Harry just nodded glumly at the prospect. He really didn't like going to Diagon Alley. Since the battle, he'd gone twice. Once so early, the street had been eerily deserted Harry had shivered slightly, remembering the last time he'd seen it so empty. The other time during the afternoon, when it was rather busy and both Neville and Harry had been accosted by dozens of witches and wizards.

 

“Well, I think we have discussed all that needed to be discussed for now. Yes?” The minister waited for Harry to nod before he stood up and stretched out his hand.

 

Harry shook it with a smile. “I will think about the seat on The Wizengamot, it might be fun.”

 

“With you there to rile things up, I have no doubt. If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to call on me. You have done us all a great favour Harry.”

 

Nodding in acceptance, Harry wished him a nice day and left the office with a smile. That had been a rather long conversation. He was so deep in thought, thinking about the fact that he had just been talking to The Minister of Magic as if he was an old friend -which may be partially true, in a way-, that he didn't realize he'd walked out into the hallway without casting the disillusionment charm.

 

Somehow, Harry managed to make it all the way down to the enormous lobby before anyone noticed him. Normally, he would have been glad for that. This time however, it caused a distinct dent in his reasonably decent day. As soon as someone spotted him, they yelled his name and caused every head in the area to turn and stare. Harry had barely enough time to let out a groan before half of the ministry employees were crowded around him.

 

They were pushing and pulling. Asking so many questions all at once, Harry had no hope of answering any of them. Looking around, he was starting to get rather panicked. There were too many people, and they were making too much noise. In a crowd like this, someone could draw a wand and fire before anyone even realized the danger. Harry didn't like it. He knew he was being paranoid but he couldn't help himself. To many death eaters were still running, and none of them would pass on a shot at killing him.

 

Trying to keep his breathing under control, Harry tried to get through the crowd. He wasn't sure where he was going, and he really didn't care, as long as he got away from them. However, no matter how hard he tried, it didn't work. The crowd just followed him, keeping up a stream of questions and statements and thanks and other random things Harry really didn't care about. Getting slightly annoyed, Harry tried to tell them to back off but he couldn't be heard over their noise. He could feel himself getting more and more agitated the longer he tried. Before long, he felt the magic surge and a shock wave left his body.

 

Staggering slightly from the force, he was glad to notice that there was a circle of empty space were there had been people pressing against him a moment ago. Looking around, he noticed that those closest to him had all stumble backward. A few of them were still laying on the floor, looking up at him with a tinge of fear in their eyes. Everybody around them had fallen silent.

 

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Looking around him slowly, he held out his hand for one of the women on the floor. She grasped it and stood up in one fluid moment. While the others were being helped upright as well Harry spoke as loudly as he could without screaming. “My apologies for that. I did not intend to do that... Lately, I have not been able to leave my house due to the amount of attention I receive. Don't get me wrong, I am not ungrateful. I appreciate your well wishes and would speak with each and every one of you, if we had the time. However, there are many things that need attending to and these kinds of incidents are not very productive. Not only can I not answer any of you when I can barely distinguish a single voice. You are also endangering yourself and everyone around you when pressing towards me like this. So, for those who are here to thank me. I'd like to say you're welcome but that would insinuate that I did anything that needed thanks. As I mentioned during the statement I made two weeks ago, I did what had to be done, nothing more, nothing less. Your thanks are highly appreciated but not necessary. I will always help those who need it, whether I will be thanked for it or not.” Around him, people started whispering and Harry waited a moment for it to pass. “Those that are here to wish me well, thank you and the same to you. We all deserve to have a happy and peaceful life. As for all the questions, keep an eye out for The Quibbler. I may be answering some of your questions in future editions.”

 

Around him, the whispers started again and all too soon, they resumed their bombardment of questions. This time though, a circle of space remained around him and Harry was able to move away. While many of them followed him, many more moved away and continued whatever they had been doing. Harry ignored the group of witches and wizards still trailing him and ducked into a nearby lavatory. Nobody followed him and Harry led out a deep sigh of relief.


	3. Defending Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, someone asked if I could tell them whether this is going to be Severitus or Snarry. I'm sorry to say that no, I can't. Mostly because not everyone wants to know. So, if reading this story is dependent on the answer to whatever question you have, you'll have to go to ff. I go by the same name on that site so you can send me a pm there and I'll answer in private.
> 
> Now, have fun reading and please leave a review. They're great incentives to update quickly. :D

**Chapter 3: Defending Draco**

 

A chuckle came from behind him, causing Harry to twirl around. There was a man standing at the sink, looking at him with obvious amusement. “It will calm down after a while. Before you know it, they'll barely remember your name.”

 

Harry scoffed and raked a hand through his already messy hair. “Somehow, I doubt that. They didn't forget me when I vanished into the muggle world.”

 

“True, but back then you where a mystery. This time, they'll come across you on a daily basis and soon enough, your presence will be as normal as a Forbidden Forrest that borders a school.”

 

Harry laughed at that “Yes, because it is completely normal for kids to have access to such a dangerous place. Not to mention the utter idiocy of calling it Forbidden.”

 

“Aah, you are a treasure aren't you?” The man was smiling, his eyes crinkling in much the same way as Dumbledore's used to do.

 

Harry just shrugged and washed his hands, trying to make it look as if he'd gone in there for a reason besides hiding from his overzealous admires. “May I ask who you are?”

 

“You may ask, I may not answer though.”

 

Harry gave the man an amused glance. “Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?”

 

“Well, my dear boy. My name is Angus, Angus the janitor. I keep this place clean.”

 

“This place as in, this bathroom?”

 

Chuckling, the man shook his head “Well yes, as well as the rest of the ministry.”

 

“You take care of all their crap, all by yourself?”

 

“Oh no, I have a few others working for me. But it's not so bad you know, being a janitor is much less taxing with access to magic.”

 

Nodding Harry turned to dry his hands. “Most things are.” Turning back, he held out his hand towards the man. “It's nice to meet you Angus.”

 

The man took his hand and shook it jovially “Yes, it is nice to meet you as well Mr. Potter. Before you leave though, I have a question.”

 

Holding back a sigh, Harry nodded “All right, but only if you never speak of this again. I would like to be able to go to the loo without interruptions.”

 

Angus grinned “Well, since you came in here for other purposes, I thought it would be acceptable. But, I will not tell anyone we spoke. As for the question, I would like to know if you are going to accept a seat on The Wizengamot.”

 

Taken aback, Harry just stared him. Not knowing what to say. Finally he asked “How... How do you know about that?”

 

“I'm a janitor, we know many things.”

 

Scoffing Harry shook his head “I haven't decided yet. It's not really my thing. Hermione would be way better for the position.” He paused and frowned in thought “Though, with the history that the ministry has... I suppose even I could be of some use.”

 

“You doubt yourself. You shouldn't.”

 

“Why do you say that?”

 

“I saw you out there, you handled the situation well.”

 

“I lost control of my magic. I would not consider that handling the situation.”

 

“Yes, but that may not have been a bad thing. The world loves you Mr. Potter. If you allowed them to mob you like that, you would not fare well. You may have not intended to do it but what happened out there was a good thing.”

 

Harry shook his head. “No, it wasn't. It will be in the paper tomorrow and I'll have another year of Hogwarts students whispering behind my back.”

 

The old man's eyes lit up. “You are returning to Hogwarts?”

 

“Yes, I need my N.E.W.T.s.”

 

“Good, that's good. As for the whispering, let them. It will ensure that they remember to keep some distance. You didn't hurt anyone and apologized immediately. And while that may have been forgotten in the wake of your small show of magic, you followed up with that bit about answers in the Quibbler. It will ensure they can't twist it into something it was not.”

 

Harry snorted at that. “You seem to have forgotten how the Hogwarts grapevine works.”

 

Angus smiled slyly. “Oh no, I haven't. But you are a smart boy and you are currently at the top of the world. Well, at the top of the wizarding world. You can do anything, go anywhere. You can play to the media, become a star. You can retreat, forget the world and live a nice and peaceful life somewhere. You can become an Auror, go into politics, teach at Hogwarts.. You can turn the world upside down if you wished.”

 

Harry rolled his eyes. The man was insane, he had to be. “Why are you telling me this?”

 

“Because, my dear Mr. Potter. I saw you out there a moment ago. You have a knack with people. You may not know it, but people flock to you. And it's not just because of what you have done in the past. You are smart and hold a great deal of power, magically, socially and politically. But you are also kind, caring and loyal. On top of that, you have the ability to hold the attention of a hundred people without even trying. You can change our world Mr. Potter.”

 

Sighing deeply, Harry shook his head sadly. “I can't. I'm not the man you seem to think I am. I don't like the spotlight, I can't stand having so many people gawk at me”

 

“Oh, I know. But you cannot change that. While you can do whatever you want; witches and wizards will always, as you put it, gawk at you. What you do with the rest of your life won't change that. Why not try do use it for some good.”

 

“Because it will only cause more publicity. I don't want to read about myself in every morning paper for the rest of my life.”

 

Angus chuckled “Unless you plan on killing another Dark Lord, the publicity won't get any worse. You could add to your achievements but what could possibly overshadow your fight against that mad man?”

 

“I don't know. With my luck, we'll have an answer in a few years.” Harry answered, completely serious and positively convinced that a new prophecy had just been added to the Department of Mysteries.

 

Giving Harry a comforting pat on his arm, Angus said “Maybe, but that can wait. For now, just don't sell yourself short. You could do a lot of good in many different ways. You don't have to go into politics to make a difference. Just look at Albus Dumbledore, he was considered the most powerful and influential wizard for many years and he spend his life teaching children.”

 

Giving the man a weak smile, Harry nodded. He didn't like the comment. As if Harry could ever be like Albus Dumbledore, it was ridiculous. Though, not that long ago he had been thinking that he was acting rather like the old headmaster, meddling in Malfoy's trial like that. “I will think about it. First, I would like to finish my education.”

 

The man nodded “Good. Now, good luck at the Malfoy trial.”

 

Harry blinked a few times, completely dumbfounded as to how the janitor seemed to know so much. Instead of commenting, he gave the man a smile and left the bathroom. The people he passed all stared, some of them nodded, while others tried to get in a quick word. Harry smiled and nodded to them in acknowledgement but refused to stop. He was absolutely certain that, as soon as he stopped, they would all converge and kill him with their tenacity.

 

Ducking into the lift that was just closing, he was pleasantly surprised to find Mr. Weasley.

 

“Harry my boy, how have you been? Did your first night alone in that mansion of yours go alright?”

 

Harry grinned at him and nodded “Perfectly fine, sir. I found several portraits that seem to be sentient but none of them have responded as of yet, they simply sleep. I'm hoping there will be a few that can tell me about my family. And I found a bunch of guest rooms, if ever the whole Weasley family is homeless, I have room enough.”

 

Mr. Weasley chuckled “Let's hope that won't be necessary. Tell me, what drew you out into the world?”

 

“Well, I'm currently trying to avoid a stampede. I came to visit Minister Shacklebolt and now I'm waiting for Draco's trial to start.”

 

Mr. Weasley looked at him, curiosity written all over his face. While Harry had been learning to keep his own emotions of his face, others became more of an open book every day. “You are going to the trial for the Malfoy boy?”

 

Nodding, Harry looked away from him. Hoping that Mr. Weasley wasn't going to try to stop him. Lately, both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were becoming more and more overbearing. It wasn't that Harry had a problem with it, it was just that every time they tried to parent him, Harry remembered that none of his own family survived. Worse, that the only person who had really known either of his parents and might still be alive, was currently missing and would most likely still hate Harry ones he returned to the world. “Yeah...” Harry hesitated, trying to think of a good explanation. “I think I could help. He was just a kid when this all started, he changed, especially this past year.”

 

Mr. Weasley just smiled and patted Harry's arm “I know Harry. How about you come with me and wait in my office. I have my own office now, and it's a grand one to.”

 

Harry gave him a smile and nodded, happy to have somewhere private to wait for the trial.

 

When they entered Mr. Weasley's office, Harry looked around in appreciation. The office was about half the side of the Minister's office but it was still ten times larger than Mr. Weasley's previous space. Sitting down in one of the lounge chairs, Harry took a good look around. “So, how did you receive such a marvellous office?”

 

Mr. Weasley poured them both a cup of tea and handed one to Harry. “Minister Shacklebolt has appointed me the Head of the Department of Muggle Interests. They moved all the offices that had anything to do with muggles to the department. It's mostly the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes but a few other offices were moved as well. This morning I was consulting with the Muggle-Worthy Excuses Committee on some of the trouble You-Know-Who caused and tomorrow I have to ensure that the Invisibility Task Force and Obliviators get stories out. I'm mostly playing intermediary between all the departments at the moment but I get to speak to a lot of muggles too. I even spoke with the muggle Prime Minister last week.”

 

Harry stopped himself from chuckling at that. It wasn't that he thought Mr. Weasley wrong for the job. He wasn't. In fact, Harry thought that there was no one better than Mr. Weasley. It was just that Harry could only imagine the faces when the man accosted random muggles with questions about completely ordinary things. “Is that why you've been so busy? Mrs. Weasley wouldn't tell us anything, said you wanted the whole family together to hear the good news?”

 

Mr. Weasley nodded “Yes, with Fred in the hospital we haven't been able to have a real family meeting. To many Weasley's to visit at once, you know.”

 

Harry nodded. He could understand that. After all those years slaving for the ministry, it was understandable that the man wanted to share news like this with everyone at ones. “It sounds like it's a lot of work, this new job”

 

Mr. Weasley sighed, but smiled happily “It is, it definitely is. But it will get better ones the mess You-Know-Who created is cleared up. Once that is over, the minister has promised me that I will be representing the muggle community in the new government. That man has a lot of plans, it's all rather exciting.”

 

“Yeah, he asked me to take a seat on The Wizengamot this morning. Personally, I think he might be going insane or senile.”

 

Mr. Weasley shook his head at Harry, clearly disagreeing “I think he's right Harry. You're a good man and you have influence. The Wizengamot would be  lucky to have you.”

 

Harry took another sip of his tea. Thinking how strange it was that everybody kept saying that. Even some stranger in a toilet told him to take the seat, and had given a fairly impassioned argument for why he should do it to boot. Cocking his head, he looked at Mr. Weasley “Why would you say that? You know I'm no good with all the attention.”

 

“Except that's not true and you know it. You don't like all the attention and that is perfectly fine. But you are very good with public speaking and the like. In fact, you are a natural at it. I heard how you got all the students to ban together to form that club, Dumbledore's Army. And then they all followed you into the ministry.”

 

“Yeah, after I told them not to. See, I'm really not a good leader.”

 

“A true leader doesn't need obedient followers Harry, you know that. You inspire loyalty because of who you are. People listen to you because, when you speak, you make them listen. You don't spin tales or obfuscate the truth, you tell it the way you see it. You have a pure heart Harry, you'll help and defend anyone who needs it. You my boy, would be the perfect person to bang some sense into those old geezers on The Wizengamot.”

 

Giving another long-suffering sigh, Harry shook his head “I don't want to be a politician Mr. Weasley, that's not my thing.”

 

“You don't need to be. Proxies are allowed for most of the meetings, I doubt that will change. You could let someone else take your seat when you have more pressing matters to attend to. That way, you can do what you want and still have some say when something important comes up.”

 

Sitting forward, Harry looked at Mr. Weasley intently “I can have someone else attend for me and still have a say when they are discussing something that interests me?”

 

“Well, a proxy is supposed to give them your opinion. So yes, you'll still have a say. You just have to ensure that you choose you proxy wisely. You don't want someone that abuses the power to push his or her own agenda. They will be representing you, so whatever your proxy does or says, will reflect on you.”

 

Harry bit his lower lip and thought for a moment. “Hermione would probably be happy to do it. She wants to work at the ministry anyway.” Chuckling a bit, he gave a sly glance at Mr. Weasley “Just imagine how much better the elves will have it with her in a position of power.”

 

Mr. Weasley nodded sagely “Yes, Hermione would be very happy if you made her your proxy. The whole ministry will have updated their laws on magical creatures in no time. Before we know it, elves, werewolves, vampire, trolls and goblins will all have their own house at Hogwarts.” He paused, smiling happily. Then he gave Harry a long look over “I hope this isn't too intrusive but.. Have you had any letters from her this week?”

 

“No, why do you ask?”

 

Mr. Weasley sighed deeply. “Ron hasn't heard from her either and I heard him grumble that you'd probably been getting letters from her every day. My boy is a little insecure. What with his girlfriend leaving for the other side of the world only days after they started dating...”

 

Harry rolled his eyes “Yeah, that's Ron for you. It will take some time before he realizes she loves him and stops being jealous of every guy she speaks to.” Harry was just glad Ron wasn't jealous over his fame any more. Now, it was just his friendship with Hermione, and Harry had a feeling that would get better soon enough. It was just bad at the moment because Hermione had gone to Australia to bring her parents back, and Ron had stayed behind to care for Fred with the rest of his family.

 

“I'm glad you don't hold it against him. Ron has always been overshadowed by his brothers and then he met you. It took him some time to learn that he didn't have to be in the shadow of someone else, that he could step forward into his own spot of sunlight. I think he understand that now, that there is no reason to be jealous. That everyone can be a hero in their own way, if they try their best. He just hasn't figured out why Hermione would choose him over you. To him, you'll always be The Hero, even if you're his best friend and he knows all your flaws.”

 

Harry smiled lightly. While Ron's jealousy had sometimes aggravated Harry more than even Draco's bullying, he'd never blamed Ron for it. It wasn't his fault and the fact that he still wanted to be friends with Harry had always meant a lot. There were times when he wanted to wring his friend's neck because of it, but mostly he just shrugged it off. And lately, only Hermione seemed to make him jealous and Harry could deal with that. Knowing that that situation would resolve itself, Harry let the matter rest and changed the subject.

 

“Has Ron decided whether he wants to go back to school?”

 

“No, he probably won't decide for a while yet. Personally, I don't think he really wants to go back. You know he's been talking with Fred and George about working with them, right?”

 

“Yeah, he mentioned something like that. But I thought it was more along the lines of filling in for Fred until he's better.”

 

Mr. Weasley nodded “That was the plan at first, but now that Fred is awake and doing better every day, they have been discussing opening that second store in Hogsmead. Ron's offered to help them out.”

 

“It never ceases to amaze me how little regard those three have for Mrs. Weasley's wrath. Though, I'd like to be a fly on the wall when she realizes that another of her sons doesn't want to go for his N.E.W.T.s”

 

“I have already told the boys not to tell her when I'm home. While being a fly on the wall, as you put it, could be fun, I would not like to be within range for that. No matter how much I love and adore my wife.”

 

Harry chuckled and put his now empty cup on the side table. Looking at his watch he stood up slowly “Well, I think it's time for me to go. The trial will be starting in a little while.”

 

Mr. Weasley stood up and waved his wand over Harry. “A small notice-me-not charm. If you don't dawdle in the hallway, it will hold until you reach the courtroom. Don't worry Harry, do whatever you can to help the boy and it will all work out.”

 

Harry thanked him and after another encouraging pat on his shoulder from Mr. Weasley, Harry left for Courtroom eight.

 

When Harry arrived, The Wizengamot was already in attendance and were sitting on the left side of the room. The witnesses were all sitting on the right side, where the press would have been had they been allowed inside. Draco hadn't been brought in yet. Harry walked in and sat next to the Headmistress. The charm had yet to wear off, and Harry took the extra time to look around. The other four students were sitting in front of him, none of them were talking. Behind him were the two witnesses Harry didn't know, whispering in a tone to low for Harry to overhear. The three professors were all sitting on the other side of McGonagall. Harry noticed Flitwick had brought several think books and stacked them on the bench so he could see over the students in front of him.

 

On the other side of the room, the members of The Wizengamot were talking amongst themselves. Harry tried to listen in but gave up when he couldn't separate the voices. Only moments later, he heard Minerva gasp. Looking to his side he saw her wide eyes and open mouth and chuckled.

 

“Mr. Potter. What are you doing here?” Her voice was crisp and Harry understood instantly that she was not happy with his appearance.

 

Harry smiled innocently. “I'm here to make my statement.”

 

The headmistress sighed. “Mr. Potter, this will affect Mr. Malfoy's whole life.”

 

“Professor, I'm here to help, not hinder.” Harry interrupted before she could start a lecture on why he should not have come.

 

She gave him a scrutinizing look, before smiling softly. “I should have known. You would help your worst enemy if you believed it to be for the best.”

 

Scoffing, Harry shrugged “I suppose that's true. I tried to save Snape when I still believed he was to blame for Dumbledore's death. Hell, I gave Riddle a chance to change his mind, even though I knew he would never feel even the slightest bit of remorse.”

 

The headmistress gave him a fond look “That's one of your best qualities Harry. Don't ever doubt your instinct when it comes to helping others.”

 

“Dumbledore believed that he was helping others. Yet, things would have gone very wrong had it all turned out as he had planned.” Harry could help but point that out.

 

“Professor Dumbledore, Harry. And you are not our late Headmaster. In some ways, you may be similar, but in many others, you are very different. Albus once told me that you have a heart purer than any other he had ever seen, and I agree. You will do great things Harry. Just listen to your heart and do the best you can.”

 

“People have been telling me that a lot lately. Everyone seems to think I am on my way to become this great wizard when I don't even know if I still want to be an Auror.” Harry bit his lip. He hadn't wanted to say that. He wasn't sure how she would react to him changing his mind on the Auror thing after she had fought for him against that toad.

 

McGonagall put a hand on his arm and gave him an encouraging smile. “You will figure it out in due time. You have a few months of summer and a whole school year left to decide. And unlike your previous years, there will be no dark lords disturbing your studies.”

 

Harry's first thought was 'DON'T SAY THAT OUT LOUD!' but before he could voice that though, the door on the far side of the court opened and Draco walked in, flanked by two enormous Aurors. The boy looked rather dirty, his hair a complete mess, but he didn’t slouch in shame. He kept his eyes straight forward and sat in the chair without protest. He seemed much better than most prisoners after spending time in Azkaban. Which was probably due to the fact that Kingsley had removed the Dementors and the prisoners were now guarded by Aurors.

 

Everybody settled down while one of the Aurors spelled a thick chain around Malfoy. Harry found it laughable, as if Draco could do anything without a wand. When everyone was quiet, Kingsley started the trial.

 

Harry didn't listen to all the niceties. He didn't really care about the case number or the names of any of the people there. The only ones that really mattered at this point were Kingsley and Madam Bones. Instead, Harry watched Malfoy, who was still staring at a spot directly in front of him. He didn't seem nervous or afraid. It wasn't that he looked confident or defeated either. He seemed simply neutral, like a blank slate that could become anyone. It was a good look for the circumstances. It made Harry wonder if Malfoy had been coached. Any emotion could be construed either as a sign of innocence or guilt, and Harry was certain that right now, most would go for guilty. When Harry had considered Malfoy's case a few days ago, he'd realized right away that it would be impossible to prove him completely innocent. He'd figured the only way to keep him out of Azkaban, was to get him on parole or something. He'd intended to do more research but hadn't had the time. Now he was left wondering how Draco was planning for this to go. Was he planning on using his youth and emotional distress as mitigators as Harry had been thinking? Or did Malfoy figure out a better angle during the past weeks?

 

Harry was pulled out of his musings when Malfoy looked up and blinked a few times. Then he simply stated “Innocent” before looking back towards that undetermined spot in front of him. The minister nodded and said something about Veritaserum. Moments later, a young man came forward and put a few drops of the potion on Malfoy's tongue. Seconds ticked by in complete silence, then the questions started.

 

“Did you accept the Dark Mark?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Did you do so willingly?”

 

“Yes.”

 

There was a pause, a few whispers. Then Kingsley asked “Why did you accept the mark?”

 

“Power. To safe my father. To keep my mother safe. To safe my own life. To show Potter that I'm better than him.”

 

Another pause, more whispers.

 

“Did you conspire to infiltrate Hogwarts and murder Albus Dumbledore?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why?”

 

“To get my father out of prison. To keep my mother safe. To safe my own life. To show them all than I'm better, stronger than them.”

 

“Did you attack Harry Potter during the Battle of Hogwarts?”

 

“No.”

 

“Did you fight during the battle of Hogwarts?”

 

“No.”

 

“Did you lie when Harry Potter was at your house during Easter break?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“About what?”

 

“I told them I didn't know whether it was him or not.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I was afraid they would call _him_. I was afraid he would kill Potter.”

 

Another round of murmurs, this time louder. Kingsley held up his hand and they fell quiet.

“Why were you afraid of Harry being killed?”

 

“Potter was our hope. I could not lose hope.”

 

“You were hoping he would kill Voldemort?”

 

“No.”

 

“That what were you hoping for?”

 

“To be set free.”

 

“From?”

 

“The Dark Lord.”

 

“Why did you change your mind about following Voldemort?”

 

“I learned what real power was.”

 

“And when was this?”

 

“When I heard the story of his resurrection.”

 

“You think that returning from the death is real power?”

 

“No.”

 

“What was is about the story that changed your mind?”

 

“Potter refused to bow down.”

 

The Wizengamot started whispering again and the minister seemed to be unsure of where to go from there. What the next question should be.

 

Without thinking, Harry stood up and spoke “Riddle wanted a duel. Felt he needed to prove to everyone that he was the better wizard.” Harry paused and grimaced slightly, that might have been a bit to similar as to what Malfoy had said before. Shooting a quick look at Malfoy, he noticed that Draco's head was turned and he was staring at Harry with wide eyes. “He told me to bow, you know like we were in a proper duel. I refused. He used Imperius, I still refused.” Harry sat back down, leaving it at that.

 

Kingsley seemed to have gathered his thoughts and gave a small nod in Harry's direction. Turning back to Malfoy, he continued his questioning.

 

“You now believe that that was real power?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then explain what exactly you believe to be real power?”

 

“Not grovelling to someone because they happen to be stronger wizards. Having the guts to stand up for people who can't stand up for themselves. Not giving up in the face of likely defeat.”

 

Kingsley nodded and wrote something down on the parchment in front of him. Looking at Malfoy's attorney he asked if he had any questions. The man nodded and went to stand in front of Malfoy, turning his back to the wizengamot.

 

“Do you regret your actions?”

 

“Some of them.”

 

“Would you join You-Know-Who if you had to do it again?”

 

“Maybe.”

 

The attorney opened his mouth, then closed it again. He seemed to have expected a different answer. “Under what circumstances would you not have joined him?”

 

“If my mother was safe. If I had known about Professor Snape. If I had someone I trusted to help me stay safe. If I had understood how wrong I was.”

 

“How wrong you were about what?”

 

“The worth of bloodlines. The power of money. What makes a good person. What makes someone strong. How to be truly happy. How to earn my father's respect. Whether I should even want my father's respect. How to keep my mother safe. Who to trust. Who to follow–”

 

Malfoy gave the impression that the list was much longer but Kingsley held up his hand “That's enough.” and Malfoy stopped talking instantly.

 

The attorney nodded at the minister in thanks and turned back to Draco once more. “Do you believe that pure-bloods are better wizards than muggle-born wizards?”

 

“Sometimes.”

 

“You don't think you are better than a muggle.”

 

“Yes.”

 

A pause and a few blinks from the lawyer “Do you think you are better than muggles?”

 

“At magic, yes.”

 

“In general?”

 

“Maybe. Depends on the muggle.”

 

The lawyer nodded and turned back to the wizengamot. “Those were all the questions I had.”

 

Kingsley nodded in acknowledgement and turned slightly to address the rest of the wizengamot. “Moments before this trial started, I was given a memory. In this memory, I witnessed the death of Albus Dumbledore and the moments that preceded it. Do you agree to allow this memory to be added to the evidence?” After many 'Aye's The minister turned his eyes back to Malfoy, who had been forced to answer the question. To Harry's surprise, Malfoy had agreed to add the memory to the evidence as well.

 

“Were you going to kill Professor Dumbledore?”

 

“At first, yes.”

 

“Did you still intent to kill him at the end.”

 

Draco shook his head “No.”

 

“Why did you change your mind.”

 

“Because Dumbledore was right, I am not a killer.”

 

“So, a single conversation with Albus Dumbledore stopped you from following through on the plan you had worked on for months?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Did you speak of your plan with anyone else?”

 

“No.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“To keep my mother safe. To show them that I was strong enough to do it myself.”

 

“You wanted to prove you could do it alone?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Would you have accepted the mission if your mother was not in danger?”

 

“Maybe.”

 

Kingsley sighed and rubbed a hand over his forehead. Harry could understand what the minister had meant before with questions under Veritaserum. The answers left quite a lot to be desired.

 

“Would you have accepted the mission if there had been no consequences had you refused?”

 

“No.”

 

Then again, Harry thought with a slight smile, Kingsley was very good at getting the answers he wanted. That was, if the minister was actually trying to help Draco. But Harry decided not to go there, for now Kingsley had not done anything to lose Harry's trust. Being the Minister of Magic was not enough reason to doubt him, not even after all the other knuckle headed ministers Harry had seen. If Harry had to remind himself of that every time he came into contact with the minister, then so be it.

 

“If we pronounce you innocent, what are your plans for the next 5 years”

 

“Finishing my education. Taking my father's place as the head of the family. Becoming an apprentice and getting a mastery”

 

“You wish to return to Hogwarts?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“And in what field do you want your mastery?”

 

“Potions or Defence Against the Dark Arts.”

 

Kingsley nodded and made another note. “We will now take a short recess in order to examine the last-minute additions to the evidence. We will reconvene in thirty minutes.” He hit the gavel ones and everyone started to stir. The members of The Wizengamot left the room, presumably to go to a pensive somewhere. Harry stood up to stretch his legs but stayed near the benches. It was highly likely that the press was waiting outside, possibly trying to peek inside through the keyhole, and he wasn't in the mood to deal with them. So far, the trial seemed to be going well. Both the questions and the answers seemed to be going toward the guilty-but-reformed verdict. Leaving Harry to wonder why there hadn't been any questions in the line of 'did you commit any other crimes' or 'did you ever go on raids with the other death-eaters'. It seemed to Harry that such questions should have been asked were they actually trying to put Malfoy away.

 

“Hey Harry.” Neville's voice came from behind him.

 

Turning, Harry grinned at his friend “Hi Nev, how's it going?”

 

“Ooh, I'm great. Things are so different now, it's amazing.”

 

Harry appraised the boy standing in front of him and nodded slowly. Things were different now, especially for Neville. The confident man standing in front of Harry now was hardly recognizable as the scared little boy Harry had met on the train so many years ago. “So, what are you doing here?”

 

Neville shrugged “The headmistress asked me to come. She needed an honest and impartial Gryffindor. Beats me why she thought of me.”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow “Do you think Malfoy should go to Azkaban?”

 

“No.” Neville answered instantly “I mean, he's an ass and all that, but I saw him last year. Some of the Slytherins thought it was really cool you know, torturing the younger students. Malfoy just looked scared and he never 'practised' for the fun of it, only when the Carrows made him.”

 

Nodding, Harry concurred “Yeah, Malfoy changed... Though, I have to admit that I did not expect to hear him admit that some muggles are better than him.”

 

Neville gave a low chuckle “That was definitely interesting.”

 

They were quiet for a moment, both thinking of what they would say when they were called to testify. It was Neville who broke the silence “So, are you going back to Hogwarts?”

 

“Yeah, they offered to accept me into the Auror programme without N.E.W.T.s but I didn't think it such a great idea. I'd rather earn my place.”

 

“They talked to me about that too, but I was thinking of asking for an apprenticeship with Professor Sprout.”

 

They talked for awhile longer. Discussing anything from the past year to what their friends were up to and what idiotic things the papers were going to say about them next. Neville mentioned something about DA chocolate-frog cards and they had fun thinking of what it would be on the card of each member.

 

When the wizengamot returned, they took their places and Draco was brought back into the room. This time however, he took a seat on a chair slightly to the side. The trial resumed and the minister started to list the evidence. Kingsley gave a description of the memory Harry had given him, and read over several witness statements from Students and Order members. They all said somewhat the same thing. They'd seen Malfoy in some kind of compromising situation, such as the Battle of Hogwarts and the invasion of the astronomy tower, but only one person had seen him cast a spell, and that was a relatively harmless Petrificus Totalus. Soon enough they had come to the witness interrogation and the unknown wizard was called forward.

 

The man turned out to be a part time employee at Borgin and Burkes when Malfoy had been working on the Vanishing Cabinet. He had seen the boy in the store on several occasions, usually looking over the cabinet. When the minister asked if Malfoy had shown interest in any other object, Harry held his breath, afraid that he would mention the pendant. But the wizard shrugged and told them no. Then the unknown witch was called forward. The woman had apparently seen several meetings between Malfoy and Greyback. According to her, Malfoy had been an arrogant little boy who wanted to play with the big boys. Malfoy had seemed to become more scared the closer they got to the end of their sixth year. Her testimony was succinct and Harry thought she was being remarkably nice. Considering that she was talking about a meeting between a maniac werewolf and Malfoy junior.

 

Then came the student testimonies. The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students gave a short description of their interaction with Malfoy over the years. They were asked if they believed Malfoy had changed. The Ravenclaw girl shrugged “None of us are the same as we were in first year. It's logical that we change, especially during our teens. But I think this particular generation has had a bit more going on than most. Not only did we have to grow up in an uncertain world, many of us had no choice but to choose a side and fight in a war before we even had our O.W.L.s. Malfoy made the wrong choice, and he saw the consequences of that choice first hand. He was in much more contact with the maniac than any of the other students, except maybe Harry Potter. I can't imagine it didn't have a profound effect on Malfoy, when being in the sidelines as had such an enormous influence on the rest of us.”

 

Harry thought that was a well thought out response, but it was all conjecture. Someone had to give an actual example of Malfoy doing something good. The testimony from the Hufflepuff student was similarly thought out. Never really saying that he believed Draco changed but explaining why it was unlikely that he hadn't.

 

When it was Neville's turn he gave an overview of all the horrible things Malfoy had done. It didn't sound good, not at all. But then he talked about their sixth year and how Malfoy had become increasingly withdrawn. And how Neville had not seen Malfoy acting cruel since then, unless he was trying to protect himself from the Carrows. He didn't have much more to say on the matter, just that he believed Malfoy had changed because he'd seen it happening. He couldn't really put a finger on it though, as he hadn't seen any actual evidence of the change.

 

Theodore Nott gave a quick overview of Malfoy's behaviour towards him over the years as well. It seemed to be generally decent. They had apparently studied together on occasion and Nott described Malfoy as one of the best students in their year. He was also able to give several stories of Malfoy helping younger students during the last year. Apparently, Malfoy had helped several of the Slytherin first and second years, who were have trouble dealing with the new reality of Hogwarts. Nott was very careful to mention that he had never heard Malfoy encourage or discourage the students from following the Carrows.

 

The testimonies from the teachers were all very... dry. They spoke about Malfoy's behaviour during class, his grades, his homework and his overall behaviour. Like Nott, most of the teachers seemed to think him of above average intellect. When they were asked if they had ever caught Malfoy breaking the rules, only McGonagall had anything to say. Mentioning that she had 'caught Malfoy and Potter going at it more than ones'. Though she had never seen anything that had made her believe it was anything more that a bit of house rivalry.

 

Through all of this, Draco hadn't moved ones. While he was listening very intensely, he didn't move a muscle. It was a trick he had learned long ago. After he had understood his father despised any show of emotion. Just breath and don't move, that was his motto whenever his father was railing at him for some perceived slight. That was, if they were in private. Before, Draco had never been able to stay neutral when others were there to see his humiliation. Now though, it wasn't hard at all. He'd been through hell and had survived, what did a little humiliation matter at this point.

 

Then Harry Bloody Potter was called to the stand and Draco twisted his head to look at him. He hadn't expected the golden Gryffindor to be there, he hadn't been on the list Draco had received the day before. Now Potter was sitting down to give his testimony and Draco didn't have a clue what he was going to say. He could only hope Potter wasn't going to ruin his chance at freedom.

 

Potter started by telling them how they had met and how he had refused Draco's offer of friendship. How they had gotten into many fights over the years. How in their second year, Potter had heard his father tell Draco that he should be ashamed that Potter was on the Quidditch team while he was not. And worse, that a 'Mud-Blood' had better grades than him. Then he went on how they had fought on the train several years later and how, in their sixth year, Potter had found him crying in the bathroom. Draco wanted to strangle him when he was telling that story. He couldn’t believe Potter would bring that up, not when he had almost died because of the Gryffindor. But then Draco thought about it and realized that the way Potter had portrayed the encounter, leaving out the duel that would have ended with a fatality had Professor Snape not interrupted, would be in his advantage. Potter was actually helping him out. And he was doing a very good job. Unlike all the earlier character witnesses, Potter was actually giving them several examples of Draco's change of heart. He had even told them all how Draco had tried to safe his two best friends from the fiendfyre without regard for his own life. It was an unexpected experience; hearing Potter speak in his favour. Though, when he thought about it more, Draco had to admit that it was even stranger that Neville Longbottom had not announced him to be evil incarnate during his testimony. Potter had always been known to do irrational things if it meant he could safe someone, whether that person deserved to be saved or not.

 

When they were finished with Potter and dismissed him, he stood up but did not walk away. Instead, he glanced at Draco before he addresses the minister. “I would like to add something, if I may?” Draco blinked at the sudden politeness but Shacklebolt nodded and Potter continued before Draco had a chance to think on it.

 

“Draco Malfoy was raised from birth to believe he was better than everyone else because he is a Malfoy. He grew up isolated from the muggle world and much of the wizarding world. I doubt he had ever even spoken to a muggle-born witch or wizard before he attended Hogwarts. Then he was sorted into Slytherin house, where these believes are the norm and with a head of house who had to pretend this was all right. Growing up, he believed, as most children do, that his father was the greatest wizard ever and his mother the best witch. Then he moved to Hogwarts where his favourite professor was pretending to be a death eater. Now, this may look like Draco should choose better role models and that may be true, but much of it was pure chance. It was not his choice to have a death eater as a father and it was not his choice that he was sorted into Slytherin. Which is not, and was never, an 'evil' house. Cunning is not an evil trait, ambition is not evil and Parsle-tongue is not an evil language. Truth be told, I would have been in Slytherin had I not met Draco before the sorting.” There was a lot of shocked whispering and Potter paused. As Draco studied him, he realized that the annoying Gryffindor had become a powerful man. He had grown, gained muscle and a bearing that was much more suitable for the head of a family than his usual slouch was. He stood straight, head tilted slightly upwards to look directly at the minister. During his speech he hadn't stuttered or stumbled over his words even ones. It pissed Draco off. He'd had years of training to gain his bearing and learn how to speak to people. And there Potter stood, completely capable and confident with not even a single lesson on wizarding politics and society.

 

Potter's gaze never wavered from the minister while he waited for everyone to quiet down again. When it did, he continued as if he had never been interrupted. “I choose not to go to Slytherin because of petty childishness, and because I heard the stories about the house. I don't know what would have happened had I not objected, but I do know that it wouldn’t have made me a bad person. A house cannot make a person good or bad. My parents were betrayed by a Gryffindor and my life was saved by a Slytherin, more than ones. Everybody had to make a choice, all we can do is help them make a well informed one. These past years, Slytherin had the unfortunate luck that their head of house had to play the role of death-eater, and therefore could not lead them anywhere. And let's be honest, with the amount of 'house rivalry' has Headmistress Minerva puts it, Malfoy didn't have much choice in friends either. So, unlike most outside of Slytherin house, Malfoy has been surrounded by adults who made the wrong choice or had to pretend they did so, and students who have been surrounded by much of the same. When we consider all of that, it's not strange that Malfoy followed his family and friends. There wasn't a single person in his life to lead him onto the right path. So, instead of looking at all the thing Malfoy did while he was simply following the path expected from him. We should look at what happened when he realized what that path meant. We should judge him by the beliefs he holds now, after he has gone out into the world and seen what believing in blood purity really means. Give him a chance to look beyond the world he grew up in, a chance to grow.”

 

Potter gave a slight bow and returned to his seat in the stands while Draco was gaping after him. In all the years he had known Potter, he had never heard him speak like that. To Draco, Potter had always seemed like he was just another average student who got by only because of his fame. Now though, Draco could almost imagine that Potter had an actual brain behind all that bravery.

 

The Wizengamot announced another short recess and Draco was taken out of the room ones more. They brought him to an empty room and told him to wait there. Draco leaned against the wall, unwilling to sit down and put him at an even larger disadvantage if anyone came him. He tried not to think. If he did, he would be going over every single word spoken during the trial. Trying to put meaning into everything and trying to deduce what the verdict would be. Luckily, the recess was short and the Aurors returned long before his mind started to throw all the, possibly horrible, outcomes in his face.

 

He was led into the room and told to sit in the centre chair once more. Braised for the chains to reappear, Draco was momentarily confused when they didn't. Then his heart lightened just a tat. Surely they would ensure he was chained if they were going to sentence him to life in Azkaban, wouldn't they?

 

“Draco Lucius Malfoy. You have been accused of willingly aligning with Voldemort, conspiring with death eaters in order to bring about the death of Albus Dumbledore and attacking Harry Potter during The Battle of Hogwarts. You have plead innocent on all accounts. Are you ready to receive and accept your sentence?”

 

Draco nodded mutely, certain he would not be able to form a coherent vocal response no matter how hard he tried. The head of the department of Magical Law Enforcement, a woman who had been introduced as Amelia Bones at the start of the trial stood up. “After close consideration of all the evidence presented and thorough deliberation, The Wizengamot hereby declare Draco Malfoy to be: Innocent of allying himself with Lord Voldemort. Innocent of attacking Harry Potter during The Battle of Hogwarts. Guilty of conspiring to murder the late Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.”

 

Draco let out a long breath. He'd been declared innocent on two accounts but guilty on one. He was fairly certain that meant a life sentence was of the table. And since he had been under age when that had happened and he hadn't actually killed the wizard, it was still possible for him to avoid Azkaban. Silently, Draco began to pray to whatever higher being would listen to him. Looking at the minister, he waited to hear what his punishment would be.

 

The minister moved a few of the papers in front of him before he look at Draco. “I have considered your case and have come to the conclusion that Mr. Potter was right about at least one thing. You should be given a chance to go your own way and prove that you have indeed changed. Therefore, you will be free to go but will be on probation for the following five years. At the end of your probation, we will reconsider your case.”

 

Draco nodded slowly. Probation, that didn't sound so bad. “What about my schooling? Will I be allowed to return to Hogwarts?” The question was out before he could stop himself. It wasn't that he really wanted to return to the school. If he did, it would probably be a terrible year, surrounded by so many students that would despise him even more than they had before. But he wanted to get his N.E.W.T.s and maybe convince Professor Snape to allow him to become his apprentice. Though, he didn't think there was still much of a chance at that. Not now that he knew that the professor had never really been on the same side as him. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if the professor he had always looked up to even liked him, or if it had all been pretend. He let the thought go, it didn't matter anyway. Draco was not the boy he had been, if the professor had secretly despised him, Draco would just have to show the man that he was a better person now.

 

“Headmistress McGonagall has already agreed that you are allowed to return to Hogwarts. However, you will be under the direct supervision of a professor of her choice. She asked us to inform you that if you wish go for your N.E.W.T.s, you may contact her and she will come by to discuss your options with you. Have a good life Mr. Malfoy, don't make us regret the chance we gave you today.”

 

With that, the minister stood up and the trial was over. Draco left the courtroom, a weight that had been there for so long he hadn't even noticed it, lifting of his shoulders. He was free, truly free for the first time in his life. No father who tried to control him, no dark-lord who wanted him to grovel and no lifetime in Azkaban. He smiled to himself and walked straight into a barricade made out of nosy journalist.


	4. Finding Snape

Harry left the courtroom directly behind Draco. Grimacing at the journalists that were waiting outside, Harry went to stand next to Malfoy. He didn't like the press, he never would, and he was not exactly a fan of the Slytherin. But right now, someone had to stand with Malfoy if he was ever going succeed in turning his life around. So, Harry braved the press with him. They were yelling questions at them, making it impossible to answer any of them. Flashes were going off so often that they barely had any time to adjust in between. It took several long minutes before the press calmed down and the journalist stopped trying to outdo each other and move onto actually getting answers.

 

Harry just stood there while Malfoy talked, carefully wording each answer. They tried to ask what Harry was doing there and what he was planning with his future but Harry ignored them and let Draco have his say. He stayed, not out of loyalty or any true feelings of friendship towards the boy, but because he needed to speak with him in private.

 

It didn't take that much longer for Malfoy to move away from the reporters and together they walked towards the lifts. Once inside, Malfoy looked at him and raised a single eyebrow. “Why are you here?”

 

Harry shrugged “Because I thought you could use the help.”

 

Malfoy sputtered for a bit “Because you... Because you thought I needed help? What, you thought you could hold this over my head later? So I would spend the rest of my life knowing I owed you?”

 

Sighing, Harry rolled his eyes “Not really, but if you're worrying about that... You can answer some of my questions and be done with it.”

 

Malfoy shot him a considering glance “What is it you want to know?”

 

“What can you tell me about professor Snape?”

 

Malfoy opened and closed his mouth a few times without saying anything. Finally, he muttered “Only the lies he told me.”

 

Harry shook his head at Malfoy, questioning if he'd been mistaken when he'd believed Malfoy had some sort of brain. “Do you truly believe the man could have pulled that whole spying gig of if he was constantly lying?”

 

Malfoy considered that for a long time before he gave a nod in agreement. “Fine, follow me Potter.”

 

The lift doors opened and Malfoy let them down the unfamiliar corridor. Several twists and turns later, he unlocked an unmarked door and motioned for Harry to enter. When Harry hesitated, Malfoy sighed and rolled his eyes, entering the room without looking back. Harry followed and looked around. The room was small and seemed unoccupied. An empty desk was pushed against one wall and a large filing cabinet stood against the other. Figuring it as some abandoned office Harry closed the door behind him.

 

Malfoy was leaning against the desk, looking at Harry as if he didn't have a care in the world. “So, what exactly do you want to know about Snape?”

 

Harry thought quickly. He'd decided to talk to Malfoy because Harry had hoped the Slytherin might be able to tell him were Snape could be. But did Harry really want Malfoy to know that he was looking for their old Potions Master? “How well did you know him?”

 

“Obviously not that well.” Malfoy sneered.

 

“Did you ever see him outside of school?”

 

“I met him ones or twice during the summer these past years, if that's what you mean.”

 

Nodding, Harry asked, suddenly hopeful “Where did you meet him?”

 

“Aah, at Hogwarts. Father convinced him to give me a few private lessons. Thought Snape could help me surpass Granger. Or, if that turned out to be impossible, keep me alive long enough to procreate.”

 

“Your father thinks beating Hermione is more important than staying alive?”

 

“Who knows what that man thinks. Now tell me why you're so interested in Professor Snape?”

 

Harry bit his lip, considering his options. He could lie, tell Malfoy that he was just trying to make sense out of the memories Snape gave him. Pretend that he just wanted to know how he could have missed Snape's true allegiance. Or, he could tell the truth. Shrugging he answered “His body vanished. I'm trying to find him.”

 

“Father mentioned he owns some run-down hovel. In a town called Cokeworth, I think.”

 

“Yeah, I heard about that place. Anything else you know that might help?”

 

Malfoy lifted one shoulder “The conversations between Professor Snape and myself usually concerned school matters.” he tapped his chin a few times “There were also a few instances where he was probably lecturing me about what The Dark Lord was really like. Though, I never caught on to what he was referring to. I suppose my own view of the world stopped me from understanding what he was saying.” Malfoy gave Harry a sly look “Like how he was always going on about your father... Looking back on it now, it seems silly that I never noticed that he never mentioned your mother.”

 

Harry made a non- committing noise “If you remember something that could help, can you let me know?”

 

Malfoy nodded and started towards the door “If you tell the professor that I would like to speak to him when he is doing better, than yes I will let you know if I remember something important.”

 

Harry nodded in agreement and followed Malfoy out of the room. Before the two went their own way, Draco said “And Potter, you would have done fine in Slytherin. You did well in there, nobody would have guessed that you were leaving out some extremely incriminating evidence.”

 

Harry snorted and shrugged. “I'll take that as a compliment. Don't make me regret the choice. I don't like lying unless it's for a good cause, so don't abuse your freedom.”

 

Malfoy gave him a short nod and went off somewhere while Harry turned toward the lobby. He was so deep in thought, thinking about what the next step in finding Snape was, that he didn't notice the people that stopped and stared at him. He got the lobby and waited in line, still considering his option. Once he got to the mansion, Harry made a beeline for the library and started looking for maps, or books with maps, of the United Kingdom. It didn't take him long to find a recent atlas and locate Cokeworth.

 

Grabbing his wand, Harry walked of his property and hailed the knightbus. He still wasn't a fan of the magical public transportation method but figured it would get him there faster than going the muggle way. Asking to be dropped of a few streets from his destination, Harry started walking. He didn't want anyone to know where he was going. To many death-eaters were still on the loose and most of them were either trying to get to him, or trying to get to Snape.

 

When Harry arrived at Spinners End, a shiver ran up his spine. Snape had been right, the place was old and dilapidated, the whole street was. Looking around, it took him some time to figure out which house belonged to Snape. Harry walked along the street slowly, looking around carefully, trying to find sometime that said Snape residence. When he finally found it, it wasn't something Harry could put a finger on. He was just thinking of trying the other side of the street when he felt something from the house on the corner. He had no idea what it was but it didn't feel dangerous. In fact, it was more like a faint feeling of knowing that the house was a safe haven.

 

Harry drew closer and pushed the small gate open. Walking around the garden, the place felt abandoned. There were weeds everywhere and the windows were so grimy Harry could see nothing through them. He used an unlocking charm to open the door and went inside. It wasn't much better than the outside. The air was stale and the closing of the door caused what was probably a year worth of dust to swirl into the air. Causing a rather spooky effect, with the twirling dust only visible in the thin beams of light that had found a way inside the gloomy house.

 

Harry walked around the house slowly. Searched every single room for a sign of Snape, but found nothing. Though he was certain that it was his house, unless there was another potions master with a fascination for the dark arts in the village. Letting out a long breath he sat down on the couch. He'd really hoped to find something that would help. Coughing from the dust that had escaped from the couch he called Kreacher.

 

The elf appeared in front of him with a soft plop and bowed deeply “Master Harry Potter called?”

 

“Yes. I wanted to ask if you could clean the house while making sure everything stayed were it is now.” If Harry was going to keep an eye on the house in the hopes of the professor turning up, he might as well make it inhabitable. If Snape turned up, then he would be in a reasonably clean environment, which would be better for whatever wounds he had left at that point. If he turned out to be dead. Well, Snape had left the house to Harry so he could do whatever he wanted.

 

Kreacher gave a nod and another bow “Kreacher will get it done Master Harry Potter sir.”

 

During the past weeks, Kreacher had been popping up around Harry more and more often. Asking if there was anything he could do, anything he could help with. Every time Harry had thought of something, the little house elf had bowed deeply and complied without a word. Harry had noticed that, while Kreacher came to him for work almost every day, the elf preferred being left alone to complete the task. And more importantly that he hated recognition for anything he did. The one time Harry had thanked him for doing a task, the elf had restarted the muttering and hadn't returned for several days. After that, Harry had learned that a simple 'I appreciate it' was much more acceptable. Both to Harry, who felt that expecting to be obeyed without a 'please' and 'thank you' was ridiculous, and Kreacher, who believed that being thanked was degrading. So, Harry smiled at Kreacher, wished him a productive day, and left the house.

 

Harry apparated to Potter Park and went straight to the library. Snape hadn't been at his home but that didn't mean he wouldn’t turn up there. Unless he wanted to return there every day to keep an eye on the place, Harry needed to come up with something else. Making a B-line for the section on wards, he started looking for something on monitoring wards. Finding several books, all of them thick tombs and written in Old English, Harry groaned. The tombs could hold the information Harry needed but there was no way that he could get through even one of them before the Hogwarts school year started again. He needed to find some kind of ward that was simple enough to learn in a few hours. Before the thought could form fully, a small booklet flew towards him from a nearby shelf.

 

Looking at it, Harry smiled. _Tracking Toddlers and Checking Children._ He turned to the index and saw that there were several simple monitoring charms. Flipping through to the pages, Harry glanced over the information. The first one was meant to be attached to a person, which was completely useless in finding Snape. The second one needed to be attached to several objects, surrounding the area one wanted to monitor. It was meant to warn parents if anyone within the ward used magic. Harry tagged the page and continued flipping through the book. There were many more spells that Harry would definitely need to remember if he ever had a child, but only one other ward that could be useful. It was a temporary, one use only, kind of ward. It was supposed to form a dome over a room, or property and would give a warning if someone crossed the boundary.

Harry took the book with him to one of the sitting rooms and dropped into the large armchair to read the instructions.

 

The following day, Harry stayed in the mansion. He set up the wards in several rooms of varying sizes and tested them out. It took him almost the whole day but in the end he figured out how to do it.

 

He'd attached the magic detecting ward to four large stones he found in his back yard and connected it to a shoelace that he turned into a bracelet. Moving the stones around he found that the ward worked rather well. Each time that he used magic within the border delineated by the stones, the lace would heat up. He was able to put the stones in such a way that they covered several rooms but could not make it work when he put the stones on the corners of his property. Figuring it had something to do with the monstrous size of the house, he put the stones to the side. Snape's home was a lot smaller and if it was still too large, Harry could find more stones and set separate wards for all the rooms. Now that he figured out how it worked, it took him less than five minutes to make another set of border stones.

 

The other ward was a lot more complicated, as it was not attached to anything. Instead, he was supposed to define the border by casting the spell in a certain pattern along the perimeter. It took him over a dozen attempts before he had the small sitting room warded. When he'd seen the description of the ward, he'd been thinking of using it as a simple perimeter ward. But after it had taken him almost four hours to ward such a small space, he started to wonder if anyone ever used that spell. It seemed a ridiculous amount of work for a one time ward. Especially since a child would probably trigger it at least ones a day.

 

The next day, Harry returned to Spinners End and set the ward stones. It took him a few tries to get them in the right position but after thirty minutes, the ward was in place and working. Looking around, Harry frowned, thinking about the other ward. Right now, nobody could use magic, or enter the house with magic, without notifying Harry. That still left the possibility of someone entering the property without the help of magic. Having already dismissed the option of warding the border of the whole property, he needed to find another option. Looking at the front door, he had an idea. Opening the front door, he took out his wand and set a ward over the threshold. When he was done, he linked it to the second bracelet and gave it a critical look. He couldn't exactly see the ward, but he had a feeling that he would have seen the lines he'd drawn in a vivid blue if he had the ability to see magic. Taking a breath, he stepped over the line and was instantly warned by a flash of warmth around his wrist.

 

Grinning happily, he walked through the house and proceeded to draw ward lines in front every window and door. The addition of the ward to a childcare book made more sense now that he knew how to use it. One could draw lines at the top of the stairs, in front of the stove or in doorways and be warned as soon as the ward was broken. If you got a warning, all you had to do was check which ward was gone and you would find the culprit. Harry linked all the wards to his bracelet, left the house and set the last ward on the front door. With the wards up, he could focus on searching for Snape in other places. If the man turned up at his childhood home, Harry would be warned.

 

For the next week, Harry searched for Snape. He spoke with teachers, students and order members. Anyone who might know something, but he couldn't find anything. While he had many interesting conversations, and heard even more amusing anecdotes, no-one really knew anything about the man.

 

After a week, he finally told Ron what had him so busy. Harry had been invited to dinner with the Weasley's. Since Fred had been released from St. Mungo's and the whole family had been invited to celebrate. Molly had cooked and Harry had finished three plates. Afterwards they had all crammed into the living room and talked for several hours. Harry considered asking Ginny to go outside for a walk but decided against it. It wasn't that she was ignoring him, not at all. In fact, they'd had a very intense discussion on Quidditch during dinner. It was just that she wasn't exactly trying to speak to him in private. He had a feeling that she wouldn't have been doing that if she wanted to get back together. No, the only reason she would be avoiding the conversation was if she thought it was going to be uncomfortable. And since Harry had yet to decide how he felt about that, he kept his distance.

 

Around eleven Ron had pulled Harry to the side and started questioning him. Apparently, Harry's

absence had been noticed. When he'd finally admitted that he had been looking for Snape, Ron had freaked. To Ron, it didn't matter which side Snape had been on, he was The Evil Bat from Dungeons who took their points and appointed detention. While Ron was willing to admit that he had been wrong about the man's allegiance, it didn't change his opinion. Harry tried to convince him that Snape couldn't be all bad. After all, he'd saved Harry's live on several occasions, been friends with Harry's mother and put his life on the line many, many times. In the end, he gave up and told Ron he was trying to make up for all the times he thought Snape to be the bad guy when he'd actually been trying to do right. Ron had accepted it, saying that Harry should really do something about his 'saving people problem'. Which made Harry roll his eyes and Ron laugh.

 

Harry had owled Malfoy to ask him to arrange a meeting with Draco's mother for Harry and got a response during the second week of his search. Malfoy's mother would be present at Malfoy Manor and willing to meet that afternoon. He'd just finished his lunch when the message arrived, and he had no idea how to get to the place. Cleaning up his plate and grabbing his stuff, he hailed the knight bus again and left for Malfoy Manor. The trip was a lot shorter than he had expected, leading Harry to think that the Malfoy's lived somewhere close the Potter Park. When he arrived, he was slightly taken aback. While he had been inside of the manor, they had arrived at night and he hadn't been able to see the house properly. After he'd moved into his own mansion, he had assumed that Malfoy Manor would be around the same size. He'd been wrong, very wrong.

 

During the night, Malfoy Manor had looked creepy and ostentatious. During the day, it was still pretentious but it the creepy feeling wasn't there. The tiny towers to the side were beautiful, but also very... cute. While the house itself was larger and the maze-like hedges in front of it more pompous than anything at Potter Park, it's seemed somehow less impressive. It seemed to be trying so hard to be regal and grandiose, that the whole effect was lost.

 

Harry went through the already open gates and walked up the driveway. When he was walking up the staircase that led to the overgrown front door, it was opened. Harry almost faltered, the Malfoys had an actual butler. They didn't just have elves, they had other wizards waiting on their every wish. It was utterly ridiculous. Shaking his head inwardly, Harry smiled at the man and gave him a slight nod when he was waved inside.

 

The butler let him to a large room filled with plants. It reminded Harry of his own greenhouse room, though he didn't have nearly as many strange plants. Maybe he should talk with Neville, he would probably drool all over if Harry told him he could use the space. Filing that away for later, he followed the pathway until he found Mrs. Malfoy sitting at garden table, waiting for the teapot to finish pouring her tea.

 

Harry walked toward her and bowed slightly. He'd spoken to one of his ancestors, who's painting had finally reacted after Harry had been trying to wake him for over an hour. The old wizard had told him to stand straight and be quiet unless he had something interesting to say. He'd then gone on to ask questions, to which Harry was only allowed to say yes or no, any more information and the wizard cut him off. When the man had the information he wanted, he gave Harry a two-hour lecture on how a Potter should compose himself in the company of others. Harry hadn't minded the lesson, he'd spend all day searching for Snape and had been tiered, listening to the old geezer wasn't that much of a hardship. Or, it hadn't been after Harry had swayed on his feet after the first 20 minutes and he had been allowed to sit down. Now, all the information returned to him and he found that he was glad it was there. Narcissa Malfoy was a scary woman, who was most likely easily insulted. He had to tread carefully if he was hoping to get anything useful from her.

 

Mrs. Malfoy didn't stand up, she simply gestured for him to take a seat and told the teapot to 'poor the boy a cup'. Harry sat down and waited for the woman to say something. Which didn't take nearly as long as Harry would have thought. It seemed that Mrs. Malfoy was not good with uncomfortable silences.

 

“My son told me you wanted to speak with me.”

 

Harry nodded slowly and leaned back in the chair. “He did not tell you why?”

 

“No, he mentioned he had an idea of what you wanted but did not elaborate.”

 

“Yes, I imagine he does. I spoke with him about it after his trial.”

 

Mrs. Malfoy's eyes narrowed “Is that why you were there? Because you had questions for my son?”

 

“No, I was there to ensure he got another chance.”

 

“Why? What do you get out if it?”

 

Harry wanted to roll his eyes, sigh deeply and hit his head against the table.. Doing any of those things would be completely useless and so, he just started at her. The women appeared truly curious, almost anxious for the answer. It seemed to Harry as if she was afraid of what he would say, as if his answer had the power to destroy her, or more likely Draco.. Taking pity on her he said “Nothing. I don't need anything.”

 

“Then why?” There was a sliver of desperation is her voice. Harry couldn't help but wonder what she was so afraid of.

 

Instead of answering, he asked a question of his own “Why did you lie? I already gave you your answer, there was no reason to lie.”

 

If anything, his question made her more nervous. Her hands shook slightly, causing her cup to rattle softly as she sat it down. “You.. You survived his curse, again. After what I heard from my baby when he returned for the summers, I stopped believing that you could actually kill that monster. You were obviously just another average boy, not worth the trust those fools had in you.” Mrs. Malfoy took a sip of her tea, her hands ones again steady. “I never wanted to follow him, that was my husband's thing. I just wanted what was best for my family. And since I didn't trust that anyone could ever defeat the maniac, joining seemed the safest route.”

 

Harry grinned “But then you realized I survived, again, and you thought that maybe I could be trusted to do my job.”

 

“In a sense. Considering the circumstances, it seemed worth the risk. My boy wouldn't have survived long as a servant to the Dark Lord.”

 

Harry sat forward and looked at her closely “That's it, isn't it? You're afraid I will hold Draco's freedom over his head. After all, I have enough information and influence to get him convicted. You're afraid I'll force him into another kind of servitude.”

 

When Mrs. Malfoy eyes widened in shock, Harry couldn't help the smile that crept over his face. It was nice to know that he had guessed right, even if he wasn't going to use the information. “Well, since you weren't exactly a follower of Riddle, maybe you won't mind answering the questions I had?”

 

She looked as though she wanted to return to the earlier subject but, after a long moment, she nodded in acquiescence.

 

Harry decided it would be best to get right to it. At the moment, Mrs. Malfoy was still considering the possibility of blackmail. All too soon, she would decide on some course of action and Harry doubted she would still be willing to answer questions when that happened. “I'm looking for Professor Snape. I need to know any information you may have on his location.”

 

Sipping at her tea slowly, Mrs. Malfoy considered the question for a long moment. “He has a house in Cokeworth, in a very old muggle neighbourhood.”

 

Harry nodded. The few that had known anything personal about Snape had all told him that. The house in Cokeworth. It seemed that no-one had ever heard of Snape going anywhere but his house and Hogwarts. “Anything else?”

 

“I knew Professor Snape only in passing. My husband might know more but...” she didn't need to end the sentence, Lucius was in Azkaban and the whole world knew it.

 

Harry considered the possibility of visiting the man. He didn't really want to; Azkaban was not a happy place, with or without dementors. “Were they friends? Lucius and Snape.”

 

Mrs. Malfoy pursed her lips, in much the same way as his aunt whenever Harry asked a question “My husband did not have, as you say, friends. Lucius respected Severus, always spoke highly of him.”

 

“I suppose he's changed his mind.”

 

“Ooh no. Lucius has decided you are delusional. There is simply no way Snape could have deceived him.” She said it in a perfectly neutral voice but Harry had a feeling she was mocking her husband's believe.

 

“You disagree?”

 

A jerk of her head “My husband kept an eye on anyone he believed of interest. Snape, as a Hogwarts teacher, was only notable for his allegiance and his skills with potions. That, in and of itself, is suspicious.”

 

“How so?”

 

“Because he is too smart to be so unremarkable. What was he using that brain for?”

 

Harry grinned “Inventing new ways to insult Gryffindors?”

 

Mrs. Malfoy didn't laugh but Harry noticed her lip twitching, apparently the woman did have some sense of humour. “Well, it doesn't matter. Either way, I only know of his house in Cokeworth. If you want to know more you'll have to arrange a meeting with my husband.”

 

Biting his lip, Harry thought about it. “Have you been there?”

 

“I visit, yes. He is my husband.”

 

“Is it better now that the dementors are gone?”

 

Mrs. Malfoy gave him another one of those scrutinizing looks “They are locked into small cells and are rarely allowed to leave. But yes, it is better without those vile creatures.”

 

Harry nodded and stood up “Thank you for the tea and conversation. Don't worry about Draco. I went to his trial because I believe he deserves a chance. I have a feeling he will make the most of it.” He started to walk away but stopped and added “Make sure Lucius stops feeding him that bullcrap about pure blood superiority, the man has way to much sway over Draco and he doesn't need anyone poisoning him while he's trying to become a better person.” Harry didn't turn to see if she had gotten the message. He left the greenhouse and walked straight to the front door and out of the house.

 

The following day, Harry returned to Hogwarts and procrastinated under the guise of speaking with the teachers again. Most of the professors were still there, helping to rebuild and clean the school, as well as enlarging classrooms and dormitories for the extra load of students that would be coming next year. Very few of Harry's year-mates had given a definite yes or no on whether they were returning for their N.E.W.T.s the following year, as there were rumours of a chance to take them at the start of the year. But even if Harry was the only one returning to school, which was unlikely since Hermione would never miss the opportunity of more schooling no matter if she could take the tests regardless, there were the muggle-born students that had to redo the year and many other students who had been taken out of classes at some point during the past year.

 

Harry talked with the professors, helped with some of the work and generally wasted his time. None of them knew anything that could help him with his search for Snape, though most had something of interest to say of a wide range of other subject. By the end of the day, Harry had learned how to clear a classroom with one swish of his wand, stacking the tables nicely to the side of the wall, and how to find and fix weak spots in the simpler wards around Hogwarts. Sprout had promised him some interesting plants after he mentioned his greenhouse and Slughorn had tried six times to get a promise from Harry that he would show up to the next slug party.

 

The new headmistress had been busy sorting out the schedule for the next year but had taken Harry aside for a quick word. Apparently, she had heard of his search and wanted to know how it was going. When Harry told her, she was slightly disappointed with his lack of progress but wasn't all that surprised. Like Harry, she was well aware of Snape's private nature and hadn't expected much. She wasn't precisely happy with the idea of Harry visiting Azkaban but agreed that Lucius was perhaps the only person who would know something more. He was the kind of person that had files on every one of his rivals. And in Malfoy's eyes, Snape would definitely have counted as a rival, especially after Riddle returned.

 

Harry tried to convince himself that Malfoy wouldn't know anything useful for a while longer. After all, Snape was a spy and would never have given Malfoy any information that would actually have some use. But he couldn't really manage it. Snape might have had some kind of bolt hold that was known by the death-eaters. It only made sense. Had he really been a death-eater, he would have had a safe house and some of the death-eaters would have known about it. Snape never did anything half way so it would only make sense that he'd done the death-eater thing right. Which meant that Harry had to go to Azkaban and speak to Malfoy Senior.

 

Four days later, Harry apparated to the coast and flew out to Azkaban on his Firebolt. Had he not been on his way to the prison, he would have enjoyed the flight more than anything he'd done in a while. As it was, he was agitated and had to consistently force himself to continue. He had spend several days talking to a dozen bureaucrats before he'd decided to find the minister and ask for a favour. Kingsley had arranged a visit after he had explained his purposes but had refused when Harry had asked for complete privacy. It didn't really matter, in fact Harry was kind of glad the man had said no. He felt uncomfortable asking for favours from the Minister of Magic. It was better if he could see it as fast tracking. These days, it was possible for everyone to visit an inmate if you were family or had a good reason. It was just a little bit easier for Harry to get a semi-private meeting than it was for most, but that was as far as it went. It boded well for the future of the Minister of Magic.

 

When Harry arrived, a guard did some kind of revealing spell. He had to leave his cloak, wand and broom and was allowed to enter. Another guard waited to lead him through some kind of device that held some resemblance to airport security gates. The guard let him through a few corridors and into a cell-block. Several of the cells held prisoners, most of which were pressed against the bars, glaring daggers at them. A few were yelling vile slurs and one had pulled down his pants and was showing them his backside. To Harry's eternal gratitude, Malfoy was being held at the end of the first row. Keeping Harry from having to pass more of the inmates.

 

Malfoy was sitting on the ground near the bars, his back leaning against the left wall of his cell. His hair was matted, and filthy did not do justice to the state of his clothing. His eyes were closed but his face was drawn, as if he was in constant pain. Looking him over, he noticed that the man's foot was twisted strangely. Harry glanced at the guard. “How did he get injured?”

 

The guard didn't answer but Lucius' eyes flew open at the sound of his voice. Grabbing the bars, he tried to pull himself upright. Groaning, he gave up and dropped back to the floor. “What is it you want Potter?” Lucius rasped.

 

Harry looked down at the man. “I want to know how you got injured.”

 

“Each block has an hour out of the cell each week.”

 

Harry blinked. That was interesting. He wasn't sure if he liked it. On one hand, Harry wanted them all to rot in their cells. On the other, it was rather inhuman to keep them in one place for years on end. Even monsters had to stretch their legs ones every so often. “So.. You were having to much fun during playtime and twisted your ankle?”

 

Malfoy shot Harry a useless glare. “There are death-eaters in this block. I walked away before the end.”

 

Harry nodded his head in understanding “Ah, got it.” and he did, he'd seen the things that went on in that camp. Most of them were backstabbing power junkies who would take any excuse to attack one of their own. Particularly if it would get them in a better position. Without Riddle, some would be vying to prove themselves to the others and become their new leader. Harry briefly considered which death-eater was going to come after him for just that purpose when he was distracted by Malfoy.

 

“Are you going to get to the point any time soon? You're disturbing my afternoon beauty sleep.”

 

Harry rolled his eyes “I came to ask about Snape.”

 

Malfoy's eye's sharpened and a second later, he was on his feet and glaring at Harry “Why?”

 

“I'm trying to find him.”

 

Malfoy waved his hand in a dismissive movement “He's dead.”

 

“Is that why you're in denial over his role in all of this? Because you think he will never be able to disabuse you of the notion?”

 

“I knew him much better than you little boy.” He sneered.

 

“Then tell me, were would he have gone if he had been injured and needed a safe place?”

 

“I would assume his home, like a normal person.”

 

Sighing, Harry folded his arms. “His home was known both to death-eaters as well as phoenix members. He wouldn't be safe from either side.

 

Malfoy blinked a few times and started pacing, or to be more precise limping, up and down the bars. “You're right. I never considered that... He was spying on Dumbledore.  He would have to have some place where he could get away from the senile old man.”

 

Harry scoffed “You really are delusional, aren't you?”

 

Lucius' eyes narrowed as he glanced at Harry “Severus killed Albus. He was on our side.”

 

“Dumbledore was already dying. He practically begged Snape to kill him.”

 

Lucius stepped closer to the bars and wrapped his hands around them. “Severus cut of the ear of your little friend.”

 

“His shot missed. He was going for the hand of one of your friends.”

 

“He was the one who gave The Dark Lord's prophecy, he got your parents killed.”

 

“Which was why he turned. Didn't appreciate the love of his life being killed.”

 

Lucius sneered “He turned to Albus on The Dark Lord's orders. Decided that filthy mudblood wasn't worth the trouble.”

 

Harry glared at the man, wishing he could throttle him, he clenched his hands. Malfoy's breath hitched and he stumbled back, a wild look in his eyes. Startled, Harry released his fists, anger draining away. After a moment, Malfoy seemed to be perfectly fine. Harry frowned and looked down at his hand. Had he just caused the man's airway to shut? Not wanting to consider the possibility, he shook his head to clear it and asked “How about you tell me something useful and when I find him, we can ask him.”

 

Malfoy gave him a look, one that Harry didn't recognize immediately. It reminded him of some of the looks he'd seen during Potions class, he didn't like it. “Severus had no family or friends. He spent his time at Hogwarts or his home in Cokeworth. The only other place I know he visited was the Hog's Head.”

 

Harry nodded and walked away. No need to spend any more time in that wretched place. When he was about halfway down the hall, one of the laces around his wrist heated up. He lengthened his strides and found his way out as fast as he could. Racing back to the shore in a mad dash, he was still laughing happily when he landed.

 

A second later, he was standing in the ally he had scouted out the first time he'd come to Spinner's End. Harry ran towards the house and dashed through the front door. Looking around, the house seemed empty. Until he heard a noise coming from the second floor. Drawing out his wand, Harry crept up the staircase. There was a low light coming from beneath one of the doors. When there was no answer after Harry's knock, he opened the door slowly.

 

Laying, completely still on the bed was Severus Snape.


End file.
